Indentured
by mmerainbows
Summary: Kurt just wants to reunite with his dad after being taken away to repay a debt, and he'll work as hard as he can in order to do that. However, Blaine Anderson seems intent on making his life hell until then. Starts as Kid!Klaine, AU
1. Chapter 1

Kurt fiddled with the tag on his wrist, tied down with a cable tie that was on just a bit too tight so it was making a mark in his flesh. He wanted to know what was included in the shipping statement in the tag, but he knew he would be reprimanded if he took it out of the plastic holder it was in.

He wanted to desperately know if he had done something wrong and was being demoted.

They never told you, the guys that showed up and took him away from the farm he'd been serving for the past two years. They just showed up, said you were being transferred, and loaded you onto the back of the truck once they'd scanned behind your ear where your data chip was inserted to make sure you were you. No goodbye's, no packing (not that he had anything to his name), and no delay's.

Across the seat from him, a boy about his age with bright blonde hair shook his head at him. Kurt lifted one of his eyebrows in curiosity which prompted the boy to look to Kurt's tag and then back to his eyes, sending a very clear message.

Don't play with it.

Kurt sighed and sat back. There was nothing to do on the trip to wherever it was he was going. It was hardly comfortable enough to sleep with all the kids packed in with him like sardines, and he wasn't going to stare at them all like he'd noted the dark-haired girl at the front of the van was. Checking them all out and sizing them all up.

They weren't allowed to talk either. Everyone knew that from orientation days.

He had been lucky. For his first placement he had gotten to work at a farm. The work was toilsome, but he had been out in the fresh air and the supervisor was pretty laid back so they could talk and play in their off hours. Sure he didn't have a bed, but the hay in the barn worked well enough and he had gotten used to it, and they knew they always had food since they worked with the animals and crops, but now, now he just didn't know.

He'd heard rumours from the other Dents at the farm. Some places were brutal. They'd whip you if you so much as looked at a boss. Some places only fed you once a day if you were lucky. Some places paid the officials to look the other way so they didn't see that the Dents there were being hurt.

Kurt was definitely afraid of ending up in a place like that. He didn't know how many more years he had to work to pay off his family's debt, but he knew he didn't want to spend a minute of any of them in a place that hurt him. He hoped his dad wasn't in one of those places either.

He hadn't seen his dad in two years now. It had just been a couple week after his mom's funeral when the officials came and pulled him away from his dad. Kurt didn't understand then what was going on, he only knew he didn't want to be away from his dad. He had cried, and gotten a shock for it. More shocks were given every time he cried at the orientation center until he understood what life would be like now.

He was indentured. He was to serve. His dad had ended up in debt trying to pay for any miracle to cure Kurt's mom, and now they were both paying it off. He wouldn't see his dad until the debt was paid and Kurt had tried to be a good worker so that maybe he could be promoted to a better paying job that would pay things off quicker.

He had gotten some sympathy. Most of the other indentured kids were from homes where parents had lost their jobs and had racked up too many loans trying to pay it off, or from homes where gambling or drinking habits were common. His supervisor at the farm had said it was a "bum deal" but that was the way the system worked and now at least he'd know never to risk getting into debt ever when he got out of servitude.

He was pretty sure he would never borrow money ever if this is what it led to.

The van stopped abruptly and all the kids in the back perked up, looking around even though there were no windows to look out of. After a couple minutes, the back of the van was opened and everyone flinched at the light that came through.

One by one they were taken off, scanned behind the ear, and their tags removed and checked over before being scanned into some kind of machine. The girls and boys were separated into two lines where they were then taken to get a physical from a doctor that had hands that were far too clammy and cold for Kurt's comfort, and then to shower and change before forming a line in front of their new supervisor.

The whole process was done in silence, with worried and questioning glances being shared between the boys and no answer that could be given.

"Welcome to your new service center. I am Will, supervisor for the boys! Come this way please!"

The boys followed, single line, through a corridor that led them to a big, open area. Rows upon rows of tables were set up, all with workers who didn't pay them any mind as they worked on either sewing with machines or painting on little items Kurt couldn't see. They were taken through this main area to another room, aptly labeled as "Boys Dorms" where again they lined up in front of Will and he spoke.

"This is a promotion!..."

A cumulitive sigh of relief fell from all their lips.

"You have all been selected to work at Anderson Co. A number of goods are produced at this location. You work in four hours on, two off, four on, two off, four on, and then get eight hours for sleep. You will do your school work by modules here and must get them done during one of your two hour periods off. If you do not maintain a passing average in all your courses you will be demoted. Bunks are hot. If you don't know what that means, it means you share them with two other people so they are always in use. You must always wear company issued uniforms with your ID on it. You have two pairs. All workers must maintain their personal hygiene or they will be demoted. A common area that connects to the girls bunks is at the back of this dorm and may be used for socialization or schoolwork during your free four hours a day. Meals are prepackaged with your ID and you will get three per day..."

Will continued, on and one, about the rules and expectations - all of which came with the warning that if you didn't adhere to them, you'd be demoted. Found sleeping on the job? Demoted. Fighting? Demoted. Using inappropriate language? Demoted. Talking bad about the site? Demoted. There were almost a hundred ways Kurt could get in trouble here.

But it was a promotion, so he didn't intend to get in trouble. He would work hard, get the debt paid off, see his dad again. That was his master plan. That was what kept him focused.

They were given a meal, shown which bunks each of them were assigned, and then handed their embroidered button up shirts, each with their identification on it. Kurt's was HK206.

ES515 came up to him when they were left alone to eat in the common area - the blonde haired boy from the bus.

"Hey. I'm Sam."

"Kurt."

"Where were you before?"

"Farm. You?"

"Junkyard."

It was an old script, one Kurt had used with kids new to the farm to first get to know them - except that the farm was usually the first for them. Certain occupations were always used for kids early on in their servitude he guessed. The only time someone hadn't come straight from the training center to the farm was when they had been demoted.

LS313 came up to them and sat down without saying a thing - the dark haired girl from the bus that had been scanning them all over.

"What a dump."

Both Kurt and Sam's eyes shot straight up and Sam hissed over, "You want to be demoted?"

"Don't care. I'm a lifer anyhow."

Lifer's were those whose debts were so outrageous that they would probably be serving for life. Kurt had only met one before, a middle-aged demotee that didn't last long on the farm after he had been caught with one of the farmer's daughters. He couldn't imagine having no freedom for his whole life. At least right now he had something to look forward to.

"You're a kid, you can't be here for life…" Sam argued in a whisper, and Kurt's brows bunched together as he considered it, recalling that in the training center they had said that a worst case scenario for a kid was working until you were nineteen.

She shrugged, "Name's Santana. Who're you two losers?"

"Kurt."  
"Sam."

Santana had come from a hotel where she lived and worked in the laundry room. Like Kurt, she didn't have a bed there, but did get to sleep on freshly washed linens which sounded great compared to the hay he had nestled in every night. Kurt discovered her mother had a huge gambling problem which led to the whole family being in huge debt before they even knew anything was wrong.

Sam's story was more typical. Dad was laid off work, and neither of his parents could find work so they went bankrupt which meant instant indentured servitude for him and his parents. His little siblings were put into foster care in the meantime though since to serve you had to be able to read and they had both been too young for that when he was taken away.

Once they had finished eating, they were all lined up again and trained in each of the things they might end up working on at any given time. Clothing, shoes, accessories… all brand named with Anderson. Apparently the line was a big deal, though given that Kurt had only ever worn a few things in the past couple years, he would hardly know.

"Upstairs you can see the windows where the bosses are. You never speak to them directly. You do not look them in the eye. You only go up there if you are requested for special tasks. Know that they are watching you and if you value this position you will do anything questionable in their presence." Will stated as Kurt glanced up to see the sheen of the windows up there, a small walk path and railing in front of them with only one staircase on the side of the room allowing anyone to go up or down.

"Dad! Look! New Dents!" A sharp voice rang out over the room. Kurt made the mistake of looking for the source but a sharp smack on his arm from Sam reminded him to look down.

"SW101… this the new crop?" A stronger, more solid male voice asked as Kurt focused on the ground intently. A boss. It had to be a boss.

"Yes sir. As you requested."

"Good… good…. get them to work as soon as possible. We're opening up several new factories this year and I need Dents trained for all of them."

"Yes sir."

The conversation was interrupted by a yelp beside Kurt, coming from Sam, who was now hopping on one foot while the owner of the original voice that interrupted them laughed giddily.

"Blaine! Don't touch them!"

"But dad… I wasn't. I was just kicking one of them!"

Kurt let his eyes glance to the side at Sam, who was wincing and trying to hold it together.

"Don't do that either! Stay back from them! They could have diseases!"

Kurt grimaced to himself. Well these bosses were already turning out to be wonderful. As Will and the boss reengaged in conversation, the boss' kid roamed around the group, eventually coming back to where Sam and Kurt were.

That's when Kurt was kicked.

He had braced for it, knowing that by being so close to Sam it might come, but it didn't make it hurt any less when the kid's toe shot into the side of his calf and sent tremors right up his body that tried to make him fall in place.

Another laugh came out of the boy, and Kurt couldn't stop his head from snapping up to glare at the kid.

A kid that was apparently his own age as well. A shock of black curls falling over his head and eyes that reminded him of the brown cow he used to milk back at the farm. The boy seemed shocked that Kurt would look at him at all and sucked in a breath before jumping back and tattling.

"Dad! That Dent is looking at me!"

Kurt dropped his head back down, staring intently at the floor again. He had hardly been here an hour and he had already screwed up. Please don't demote me, please don't demote me, he chanted to himself in his head.

Thankfully, the boss ignored his son's complaint, and Kurt breathed a sigh of relief for the second time that day. Small blessings. Small blessings….


	2. Chapter 2

"Uck. Noah always leaves sweat in the bunk…" Sam grumbled towards Kurt as he crawled into his bed.

Kurt chuckled and drew the blankets up and over his own body. Their beds were just across from one another and every mid-afternoon, when their sleep shift began, Sam complained about his one bunk-mate's sleep habits.

It had taken Kurt awhile to be able to sleep at the Anderson factory. Every two hours a whistle would blow that alerted groups as to a change in shift. At first the whistle woke him up and he worried he was missing his own shift, but he quickly learned that he would be getting a warning thirty minutes before his own shift, and, with the help of earmuffs and pulling the covers over his eyes, he was able to block out most of the distractions around him in order to pass into dreamland.

Besides, having a real bed that he only had to share with two other people and not animals was absolute luxury. Sam could complain because he had his own cot back at the junkyard, but Sam didn't know about having to deal with animal feces and urine every night before settling in, or what it was like to not have a blanket.

During their breaks, they would eat and work together on their schoolwork. Both Sam and Kurt had used the modules before so they had no problem continuing on with the work, though Sam frequently asked Kurt to read things for him because it was clear early on that he wasn't as strong a reader as Kurt was. Santana on the other hand griped bitterly about the modules. At the hotel she worked at, the indentured kids had a tutor for their education requirements and she just didn't know how to go about learning with the direction a teacher could provide.

"What's the difference between explain and describe and contrast and all these other stupid words?" She'd grumble as she pointed to each of the different question starters, leading to Kurt and Sam trying to explain what they both thought the differences were.

It was nice to have kids doing the same coursework he was, even if he was the one that seemed to grasp the concepts faster. At the farm the kids were all of different ages so no one was doing the same work, which meant no one could ask one another about things they didn't understand. With Sam and Santana doing the same grade he was, he found he was actually getting through the work faster and with more confidence.

"You think Blaine has to read this much at his school?" Santana grunted, leaning back in a seat at one of the common tables they were sitting around, all reading the same book for a novel study.

"Don't talk bad about the bosses!" Sam whisper-hissed over at her.

"I wasn't talking bad. I was asking a question." Santana snapped back.

"Just don't talk about him." Kurt insisted, glaring at her over the top of his book.

"What? You two going to tattle on me? You both get it worse than me!"

It was true. Blaine was on summer vacation from his school and apparently that meant he was dragged along to the factory every day where his dad ignored him and Blaine ran around causing everyone grief. He'd make messes, ask workers questions they couldn't respond to, call them names, fart near them and then leave them with the smell, and otherwise run around and cause a disruption. Earlier today he had flicked buttons at Sam who ended up getting in trouble for not being able to keep the pace because of it, and then Blaine had kept yelling in Kurt's ear which had given him a headache that he was still trying to get rid of.

Blaine generally left the girls around, always exclaiming loudly that girls had cooties and that that meant they were all diseased. He was still a distraction though, regardless of where he was in the room, but everyone knew better than to complain about his antics.

"We're not going to tattle." Kurt said steadily, "We just need to get through his summer break and then he'll be gone. There's no point in getting in trouble because of him."

"Summer break… stupid kid needs more schooling not less." Santana growled, receiving a nudge to the side from Sam as a warning to shut up.

"You guys talking about Blaine?" PN513 asked as he came over and flopped down beside them.

"No Noah, we are not talking about the boss' kid like we want to be demoted." Sam insisted, shooting Santana a glare of his own which she shrugged in response to.

"He made a guy cry on my shift man! They had to take him out!" Noah said, ignoring Sam's obvious indication that they needed to be more discrete.

"Cry? How?" Kurt's interest was piqued.

"Told him his parents must not love him if he ended up here. Called the kid's mom a whore and his dad a dirtbag. Said they must not want him to do this to him."

"What's a whore?" Kurt tilted his head to the side. He certainly got that it wasn't good, but it wasn't a term he'd encountered before.

"Y'know. Someone who sleeps with someone for money."

"Why's sleeping with someone bad?"

Kurt watched as the other kids at his table either snickered at him or just shook their heads. Eventually it was Sam who relieved him of his confusion.

"They have sex."

"Oh… OH!" Kurt went bright pink and his eyes went wide. He knew about sex. That was why the one demoted Dent at the farm got the boot - having sex with the farmer's daughter. One of the other guys had said the farmer caught them right when the guy was in the middle of putting his "thingie into her thingie".

Santana chuckled at his expense, "Honestly Kurt? You didn't know that?"

"Well… well…" Kurt stammered, his forehead suddenly getting damp with nervous sweat. He hadn't been raised to talk about this kind of thing and they were mostly isolated at the farm, so all he knew was the basics. He certainly didn't know there would people who would pay to have sex.

"Don't you remember in your orientation center? When they talked about fast-tracking?" Noah asked of him, a smirk over his face.

Kurt nodded slowly, "Yeah… if you wanted to get out before you were eighteen and your debt was big enough there were things you could do to earn more money faster…."

"Like scientific testing…." Sam added on and then nibbled on his lower lip waiting for Kurt to come up with the conclusion they were driving him towards.

"And sex…?" Kurt uttered, nearly pushed out of his throat as his face felt like it was on fire with the blush he was making.

The other kids around the table nodded. "Yeah. Whoring. Being a whore. Having sex for money."

He balked, "Why would anyone want to do that?"

"Uh… duh… to get out faster." Santana said with a flip of her wrist towards him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm not going to do that…" Kurt whispered quietly, feeling quite sick at the thought.

"No one ever wants to do it Kurt… but they make people deals… why do you think there aren't many kids past the fast-track age around here?" Sam explained.

Kurt blinked and looked around. You could opt into fast-tracking at fourteen, and sure enough, most of the kids around here were between their own age and fourteen, with the odd exception. "Promotions?"

The snickered at that, at him, once again. He couldn't believe how naive he was. How did he not know this when they all did?

"I'm going to fast track when I can… scientific study route though." Sam noted, and all eyes turned from Kurt to Sam then.

"But what if you end up being a write off?" Noah stammered, shaking his head, "I've heard like half the kids that do that end up being written off…"

Written off was the term used when someone died in service. Kurt had yet to see anyone being written off, and this was the first he had heard about any statistics around it.

"I get written off and my family's debt is considered paid. My little brother and sister hopefully won't have to work long or at all depending on how old I am then." Sam shrugged, like his life wasn't a big deal.

"That's crazy…" Kurt shook his head as he looked at the blonde boy, wondering how he could make that sacrifice.

Sam shrugged, "That's life."

The whistle blew and Sam, Santana, and Kurt left Noah behind as they returned to the main floor for their next four hour shift. Thankfully they were allowed to sit wherever was free, so they could sit together, even though they couldn't talk to one another.

Kurt had taken to the sewing machines quickly, enjoying the way he made something from scraps and loving the way the machine hummed under his touch. In his own mind, and as a way to pass the time, he would pretend he was using the machine to make music, sometimes finding himself nudged by one of his new friends for humming under his breath.

Sam on the other hand had a harder time, often fumbling and having a hard time with the threading and keeping the fabric straight in the machine. Santana and Kurt kept him between them both so when that happened they could quickly help him out and keep him on task. The small friendships formed in service would never be forever, but they helped sustain Kurt's need for family in the short-term.

An hour into their shift, Sam and Kurt were wedged apart by Blaine, who plopped himself down in between them and started rambling on about how unfortunate it was that they were there, that their parents weren't around to care for them, and how much his own parents clearly valued him since he wasn't in service and they were. Kurt was able to tune him out, deftly ignoring him as he had become used to since starting at this job and continuing his work. To his other side, Sam was doing the same, and because of that, Blaine seemed to get irritated.

"What? Don't you care that you're the lowest of the low? You know in school we learned that Dents like you usually end up back in service when they're adults because they're stupid and don't learn anything… plus you guys like it don't you? You were all made to be controlled."

Breathe in, breathe out, Kurt reminded himself, trying to ignore the arrogant ass of a boy beside him.

"Blaine! What did I tell you! Get away from them!"

Thank god, saved by Blaine's dad, Kurt said to himself inwardly, never so happy as when he felt Blaine stand up and leave them alone to go whine to his dad once again about how there was nothing to do at the factory and how he wanted to play.

"God I miss playing…" Sam mumbled under his breath so quietly only Santana and Kurt would be able to hear him.

"Me too.." Kurt admitted, thinking about the fields and barnhouse he had been able to romp in and play pretend.

"You guys got to play before this?" Santana asked.

"Yeah… at the junkyard we could play so long as the stuff was sorted when it came in." Sam admitted.

"Same at the farm… some seasons were busier than others but we still got play time everyday if we worked hard." Kurt noted.

"No one for me to play with at the hotel…" Santana admitted sadly. "... the other Dents were kept in different areas. Boss didn't like us being together except for when the tutor was there."

It was one thing this place was definitely missing - the freedom to be a kid and play. Kurt just wanted to go and run, play tag, throw snowballs - whatever. He wanted that little bit of time to release his energy and remember that even though he was working, he was still a kid at heart.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh my god… how much longer until he's back in school….?" Kurt groaned, looking at the fresh bruise on Sam's calf from where Blaine had kicked him and then ran away.

Sam shook his head, "Don't know. September probably. I think that's when school starts for normal kids isn't it?"

Kurt sighed and pulled down Sam's pant leg, "When the nurse comes on Friday you should make her look at it. Make sure it's only just a bruise."

Sam shrugged, "What're they going to do about it anyhow? There's a reason Dent's only get a nurse and not a doctor … and only once a week too. Getting sick is a sure way to end up demoted."

"Don't be like that…" Kurt tried to argue, but he didn't know why. Something about this place was so dreary and foreboding. On the farm they did their work and school modules and played and ate… life was simple. Here, the kids were more serious, more focused on the worst things in life and Kurt was afraid he was starting to pick up on it. He had never noticed some of the awful things that had gone on in the world before, but now Santana and Noah and even Sam didn't hesitate to point those things out to him.

Like the lack of a real doctor to take care of their needs, or how none of them could ever really decipher what their service statements said. They were supposed to be able to gauge how long they had left in service from those papers they got a few times a year and yet no one was able to understand them. Santana would point out how most of what they earned actually went towards funding the indentured service system - the overseers, administrators, and bounty hunters, so a small debt could take years to pay off - let alone a huge one.

Santana also noted that the overseers would visit service facilities regularly to ensure that the Dents were being properly cared for and not abused - but how many times had they turned a blind eye to things like the bruises the kids had on account of Blaine now? What if the abuse got worse? Would anyone care or would they just become write-offs?

"Aren't they supposed to be fined if they find damage on us…?" Kurt asked, trying to think back to his time in the orientation center.

"Maybe, but I heard they will often just slip the overseer some cash and they won't report it then. It's not like anyone's going to make a big fuss over what happens to kids like us anyhow." Noah retorted, as if the kid knew everything there was to know about the system.

It wasn't right, and it made Kurt's heart feel heavier with each passing day. If this was how the system was - would he ever see his dad again? Was his goal of meeting him again even reasonable?

"You! HK206! Get over here!" Will yelled over at Kurt one day.

In a flash, Kurt abandoned his sewing and stepped up to Will, holding in his breath. Please let it be a promotion, he thought to himself, please let them take me away from here.

"Boss is having a meeting. You have a clean bill of health and background so you're going upstairs to refill drinks for those at the meeting. CT311 will show you what you need to do." Will directed, pointing over to an asian looking girl standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Kurt rushed over and nodded to her, "Kurt."

"Tina. Follow me."

He was led up the stairs and into a hall that branched off into different rooms and even more hall paths while Tina quickly directed him on how to act and what he'd be doing.

"They'll wag their fingers at you if they want their coffee or tea refilled. Make sure you know who's drinking what and if they take cream or sugar with it. You can't talk to them so you just have to pay attention to what they take in the beginning and then it's easy. Don't pay attention to what they're meeting on. You're just there to fill drinks, and, if necessary, running out to grab supplies they might ask for. If they ask you for supplies just find me at the desk here…" she pointed to a main desk where a couple other girls in Dent uniforms were going through stacks of paper under the supervision of a normally dressed woman. "... and I'll help you get it. Normally myself or one of the other upstairs workers would do this but the boss is expanding the company and there's too much going on today up here for me to be away."

Kurt just nodded quickly, trying to remember it all and hoping to himself that he didn't screw this up. Interaction so close with the bosses was always a tricky business and he didn't know if they would be picky about how he did things.

God he was nervous.

He paid attention, held his breath when he was called on for a refill, and controlled his shaking hands when he brought a fresh cup over to the suited old, white men who encircled the table, listening intently to Boss Anderson and occasionally grunting or humming in acknowledgement of what he was saying.

Kurt couldn't follow what they were talking about even if he could focus on it.

Numbers, projections, stocks, trades - all things Kurt hadn't learned about in his school modules and all clearly familiar territory for all the men in the room who didn't even flinch at the foreign words. When it came time for questions, Kurt was sure one of the guys would ask what some of what had been spoken about meant, but all he heard instead were more big words and lots of hand gesturing as they talked animatedly.

Kurt was also on edge from the only odd man out at the meeting; Blaine, who sat beside his dad looking completely bored and ready to fall over and nap on the table at any moment. He wondered if Blaine understood what they were talking about, and why he was even there. Certainly the obnoxious child didn't actually have a voice in running the company he seemed intent on causing chaos within.

Thankfully, Kurt didn't break any dishes, make any mistakes, or splash anyone. He also seemed to be in Blaine's blind spot so he didn't receive any of the hell he usually got from the brat. It went as smooth as it could go, and as the meeting ended and the people left the room, Kurt went to follow them - glad to return to his normal work.

"You. HK206. Here boy."

Kurt froze at Boss Anderson's voice and slowly turned around, locking his eyes with the floor as he knew was proper and stepping closer to the man. A reprimand? Trouble? God he hoped not.

"You have a clean record boy?"

Kurt nodded, unsure if he was being granted permission to speak or not.

"You like it here?"

Again Kurt nodded - but only because a fool would do otherwise.

"How old are you?"

Kurt swallowed, realizing the only way he could answer now was verbally. "Ten sir."

"How long have you been in service?"

"Two years sir."

He heard a thoughtful hum and then a change in the direction of the voice, "Blaine. This one of the ones you've been pestering?"

"I didn't do anything to him."

"Blaine, I checked the footage."

"Fine. Yeah. Whatever. He's just a Dent anyhow."

Was Kurt supposed to still be here? Was Boss Anderson done asking him questions? What was going on?

The boss' voice was turned back to him. "What's your name HK206?"

"Kurt sir."

"I know already, but tell me what Blaine has done to you."

Kurt gulped, and couldn't help the worried tremor that ran down the length of his spine and out over his hands and legs. Was he being set up? Were they trying to get him in trouble?

"It's okay. I already know. Tell me."

"Ah… well… sir…. he's kicked me, stepped on my toes, thrown buttons at me, tugged my fabric through the machine when I've been sewing so I have to put it in waste, pulled my hair, called me names, spit at me, -"

"He's just a Dent dad!" Blaine interrupted with a yell.

"You!" Boss Anderson yelled back, making Kurt flinch with the change in tone, "Will be quiet. The only reason you're here is because I can't find a nanny willing to take care of you in the summer and your mother is busy trying to get the new factory up and running! You're disrupting the work that is vital to our success though Blaine! This is absolutely unacceptable!"

Kurt cringed. If Boss Anderson thought he was helping Kurt by calling Blaine out on his misbehaviour, he wasn't. Kurt was sure Blaine was retaliate hard on him for being the reason he was getting in trouble.

"I have had two Dents unable to work because of your troublemaking Blaine!" Boss Anderson continued, still yelling. "I have lost material and supplies, and the site manager pointed out to me how much slower the Dents work when you're around! Do you think money grows on trees Blaine? Do you think your education and toys and everything else we give you just pays for itself? When you hurt them you hurt me! You hurt your mother, you hurt Cooper, and you hurt yourself!"

"...Just Dents…." Blaine mumbled again.

"Ten years old Kurt?" Boss Anderson's voice softened as it returned again to Kurt who nodded in response.

"Blaine is nine."

Again Kurt nodded, not sure what difference that made.

"Your new assignment is playmate for my son."

Kurt went cold, eyes widening towards the ground. Surely the man was joking. First of all, play was play for a reason - in that it wasn't work. Secondly, play with Blaine? Was he insane?

"Dad! He's a Dent! I can't be around him!"

"He'll get a physical to make sure he's clean and a mental skills test to make sure he's not slow, and then, yes, you will be around him Blaine. You're bored and it's hurting my company. You need someone to do something with and I can't entertain you all day long. Losing one worker to play with you is better than the two I've already lost plus the production slow down you've already caused."

A button was pressed on the phone by Boss Anderson and a cheery female voice responded, "Yes Mister Anderson?" on the other end.

"I have a Dent in here. He needs a physical and mental work-up ASAP."

"Yes sir. Of course sir. You can send him to the front desk and we'll get the doctor to check him out."

So there was a doctor here - just not for regular visits from Dents.

"You will sleep and do your schoolwork here still, but during the day you will help my son stay occupied. Do you understand?"

Kurt nodded quickly. Of course he understood, but really, he didn't REALLY understand. How the hell was he supposed to play with a kid who clearly had a psychotic streak to him and had only ever shown disgust for him?

The worst day of Kurt's life was the day his mother died, followed closely by when he was taken away from his father, but today… today was definitely the third worst day, and it seemed like there would be a lot of other runner up's added to the list if he ended up spending his days with Blaine too.


	4. Chapter 4

"So wait… you like… have to hang out with him… all day?" Santana gawked as Kurt told her and their small circle of friends the story of his day.

Kurt nodded somberly, looking at the reactions of disgust and shock from those around him. It was the worst possible torture he could have envisioned.

"Why didn't you just fudge up your medical and mental tests man?" Noah asked, hands gesturing to either side.

"They told me they would check it against my past tests and they'd know if I was trying to mess things up on purpose…. besides… I was taught not to lie." Kurt asserted, a whine in his voice as he defended his actions.

"Still man… uck. Sorry." Noah said with a shake of his head.

It was unfortunate, Kurt couldn't deny it, but it came with benefits too - ones he didn't tell his friends about lest they get jealous.

For starters, he didn't have to do the shift work on the floor. He would hang out with Blaine for as long as Blaine was there each day with his dad, and then he'd get to have his schoolwork time and then bed at what most people would consider a normal time. Kurt would also get to eat lunch and snacks with Blaine upstairs in a room that Mr. Anderson was having repurposed specifically as a "hang out" room for his son and Kurt, and Kurt would be allowed to forgo his uniform shirt.

Which meant he wouldn't be labelled and that he would get to be called by his real name and not the stupid letter and numbers combination.

Plus, if he managed to figure out how to distract Blaine from going downstairs, his sacrifice meant that the rest of the people on the floor wouldn't end up with bruises and distractions from Blaine.

He just needed to figure out how to engage Blaine in play… or what normal kids even played his age. Running around on the farm probably wasn't good preparation for the type of play Blaine was used to with his friends from school. Did kids his age still play pretend? Boardgames maybe? How was he supposed to keep Blaine occupied all day?

"You are going to have so many bruises by the end of tomorrow…." Santana chirped at him with a shake of her own head, looking at Kurt with nothing less than pity.

"Hell… he'll be lucky he doesn't end up with a broken bone." Noah insisted and then looked around the group, "We should place bets on how bad Kurt gets broke tomorrow."

"Noah!" Sam hissed and then looked to Kurt, "Ignore them. Maybe his dad's talk will have smartened him up and he'll be nice to you."

That caused Noah and Santana to snort-chuckle while Kurt looked sadly down to his plain, grey shoes with a sigh. "I hope so. Thanks Sam."

The whistle sounded and his friends went back to the floor for their last shift of the day, leaving Kurt behind to keep working on his schoolwork, trying to get ahead just in case his days with Blaine ended up being more consuming than he thought they might be. Plus it allowed him to distract himself from the worry that came with knowing that tomorrow he was somehow responsible for Blaine's behaviour.

God that was stressful.

He plowed through as much as he could manage until he saw numbers and letters dancing in front of his eyes and decided to shower and retreat to his bunk for the night - changed since his sleep schedule was set now for two hours earlier than it had been before. He saw that a set of plain clothes had been delivered there, no doubt for wearing tomorrow.

"Play clothes…" He murmured to himself. "How very Sound of Music."

God he missed movies… and watching them with his mom. He stifled a sob that threatened to rise in his throat and crawled in for the night, forcing himself to sleep by counting the bits on the popcorn ceiling above him.

It didn't matter that he fell asleep. It still wasn't restful. His dreams were filled with bruises and cuts and being pulled away from his dad and being set in front of Blaine. It would have been a nightmare had Kurt not waken up sooner than he did.

When he walked up the stairs that morning, Tina again led him through the halls, this time to a different room that had a plain white paper stuck over the nameplate that said "Blaine Anderson & Co." in what was clearly the writing of a child.

"Have fun." Tina said in a mockingly cheery tone before walking away and leaving Kurt in front of the door, lifting a fist up to knock but holding it there in front of the door warily.

The door creaked open then, almost ominously before him until he was face to face with pudgy cheeks, black springy curls, and brown eyes.

"Hey Dentie."

"Hi." Kurt replied softly, lowering his hand and hovering in the doorway nervously.

Blaine left the door open as he stalked towards what looked like a fort made of a table and blanket and crawled in. Kurt waited a moment, then, realizing he wasn't about to be invited in, walked in to join Blaine. He crouched in front of the fort and looked around in the darkness until his eyes adjusted and he saw Blaine sitting back and playing with some lego bits.

"What're you doing?"

"Building. You can organize my blocks. Put them in piles of the same colour."

Kurt nodded and crawled in, having to squint to figure out what colour was what in the dim light before setting each piece in the appropriate pile. This was okay. He could do this. It wasn't exactly playing, but he knew how to sort things and so far Blaine hadn't hurt him.

When the piles were neatly sorted, not just by colour, but also by size, Kurt offered Blaine a smile and looked up. "Done."

"Huh…" Blaine looked it over and nodded, and for a moment, Kurt thought he might actually get a compliment or at least some positive reaction out of Blaine.

Then Blaine swiped his hand over it all, mixing them back up. "Good. Do it again Dent."

He may not have marked Kurt, but Blaine certainly did know how to cut him where it hurt. Kurt's heart felt like it had been stomped, and with shaky hands he began the process again.

Only for Blaine to mix it up once more, and a fourth time, and a fifth, until he glared at Kurt and spat, "All you know how to do is follow orders huh? How am I supposed to play with you? Can't even think for yourself."

It felt true, and as Kurt looked down at the messed up pile of blocks in front of him he couldn't help but tear up. He was like a robot that was ordered around. Taught to have no emotions that the bosses could see and comply with whatever requests they had.

"Awww. Little baby Dentie gonna cry?" Blaine snickered, seeing the wetness in the corners of Kurt's eyes. "Too bad you don't have your mommy to kiss your booboo's better."

"My mom died…." Kurt choked out, a sob building in his throat that, try as he was, he couldn't push back down.

Blaine was quiet then - out of pity or uncertainty to say Kurt wasn't sure - but he was grateful for the silence that allowed him to recollect his thoughts and rub the tears away from his eyes.

"What do you want me to do now?"

"Read to me."

Blaine crawled out of the tent and Kurt followed, taking the book into his hands that Blaine immediately threw at him and beginning to read. He was stopped regularly, told to speed up, slow down, make different voices or accents, or just to reread. Throughout it all, Blaine laid back on the floor, tossing a little ball up in the air and catching it in his hands again.

Fwip - Whift - Plut. Fwip - Whift - Plut. As Kurt read, that was the sound the ball tossing made. Over and over and over again, until Blaine caught the ball and rolled on his side, ending the little rhythm that Kurt had begun to read along to.

"Come on. Let's have a pee race."

Kurt blinked a few times, setting the book down and dogearring the page so he didn't lose it if Blaine asked him to read again, before standing and following after Blaine to the bathrooms.

Blaine pointed to the urinal beside his own, dropping his pants so they fell around his ankles. "On the count of three we start."

Kurt went red in the cheeks, averting his eyes to the toilet and wishing Blaine would just punch him. This kid seriously wanted to do this? What the heck was wrong with him?

But Kurt undid his pants and bashfully turned his body to the side a little, trying to hide himself as he positioned himself for what was clearly going to be the weird highlight of the day as Blaine counted down and then they both urinated in tandem.

"Hah! I peed longer! I win!" Blaine cried victoriously as Kurt finished up and pulled his pants back over himself, trying to will away the blush on his face.

How the hell was having more pee a victory?

He ignored Blaine's little dance, opting to go wash his hands and inwardly gagging when he saw Blaine just walk out without doing the same, before returning to the playroom where Blaine had stripped the table of the blanket and set down some paper.

"We're going to draw." He directed, sitting down and beginning to sketch something out.

Kurt couldn't remember the last time he had drawn anything that wasn't for a school assignment, and so happily began drawing his family house from the memories he had. A nice little rose garden in the front that his mother kept up, and the driveway where his dad kept his old mustang he liked to work on in his free time. There was the bushes the lined each side of the property line, and the cute little mailbox at the corner. He loved thinking about that house, and had long ago decided that he would get one just like it when he was older.

When he was done, he looked over the picture, letting a smile take over his face before looking over at Blaine's picture - some kind of monkey he guessed.

"Drawing houses is so kindergarten." Blaine snorted as he scanned over Kurt's picture.

"It was my family's house…." Kurt tried to explain before Blaine snatched the picture from him and ripped it up to little shreds in front of him.

"It's stupid. Draw animals."

Kurt took in a ragged breath. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry… he chanted inside his head, reaching for a fresh piece of paper from the pile and starting to sketch out a cat - though definitely with much less detail and care then the house he had drawn. If Blaine was going to rip this one up too - what was the point of making an effort?

And he did. The cat was too dumb. The elephant he drew next looked funny, and the zebra he drew after that was apparently racist - though Kurt was at a loss for how exactly. Each picture was torn up until there was a snowpile of paper bits on the floor around Blaine.

"Why are you so mean….?" Kurt asked, watching his puppy get torn up. The will to continue drawing had long ago waned, and he was tired of watching anything he did get ruined.

"I'm not mean. I'm a boss. You have to do what I say." Blaine huffed. "Now draw again."

"No." Kurt said with a shake of his head, arms folding over his chest in defiance. "You keep tearing them up. I don't want to anymore."

"Maybe you should go back to being a useless Dent on the floor then!"

Kurt's face wrinkled up as he got angry, and maybe he'd regret it, but he was already tired of the day and lunch was still a ways off yet. He stood up and leaned over the table, finally snapping back at Blaine. "I am NOT useless. YOU are. At least I get things done! All you do is cause problems like a whiny baby!"

"You can't talk to me like that!" Blaine countered, pulling back as Kurt moved into his space.

"I just did! You think I want to be here with you?! You're so annoying and mean and rude! No one wants to be with you!"

"You… you can't talk like that to me! I'll tell my dad!"

"Fine!" Kurt threw his hands up in the air. "At least I'll be moved to work someplace else then! I don't want to be around you! You're a spoiled brat and EVERYONE thinks so."

"No…."

Kurt nodded insistently. "Yes. They all say so. You're a stupid, whiny, baby. That's why you don't have any friends to play with and they needed to hire me to do it."

Blaine made a soft whine and grabbed the blanket off the floor, tossing it up over him, and hiding within it. "Leave me alone!"

Kurt snorted at the sight, Blaine just confirming everything he had said. "I can't. I'm getting paid to babysit you."

"I don't want you here!" Blaine called out from under the blanket. "Go away!"

"Too bad."

"You're mean!"

"You're obnoxious!"

"What's obnoxious?"

Kurt laughed at that. With his mediocre module schooling and Blaine's fancy private schooling, he was still the one that knew that word. "Means you're rude and in people's faces."

"You made that up!"

"Did not. Look it up."

"Don't wanna."

Kurt rolled his eyes, sitting back down on his chair and patiently waiting for Blaine to shed the blanket or at least calm down enough to be reasonable. He was sure he'd get in trouble for snapping back at Blaine once Blaine told his father, but right now he felt invincible. He had stood up for himself and it had felt amazing.


	5. Chapter 5

For awhile, Kurt was fine with letting Blaine sulk under the blanket, busying himself with reading Blaine's books and redrawing his family house, but eventually he began to feel some nagging guilt and worry.

"Hey. Blaine? I'm sorry. Want to come out and play?" He asked, poking the side of the blanketed human pile in the chair.

"No." Was the muffled reply.

"I'll read some more to you…." Kurt offered, again prodding Blaine just to make sure he wasn't suffocating himself under there.

This time he got only a grunt in response. With a sigh he went over to the book he had set down earlier, picked it up, and continued reading where he had left off, every now and then peeking to see if there was any progress on the blanket front.

Slowly the blanket dropped, inch by inch, until Blaine's eyes were once again revealed and Kurt could see that him staring off into space as he imagined the world Kurt was reading aloud to him about. God he looked young. He might have only been a year younger than Kurt but given how he acted and reacted… the age difference seemed that much bigger. Maybe it was because Kurt had been forced to grow up a bit faster, or maybe it because Blaine was sheltered, but whatever the reason, Kurt certainly didn't feel like they were that close in age.

"Why does he do that?"

Kurt stopped, looking over at Blaine who was looking at him quizzically. "Do what?"

"Hide the books? Why?"

Kurt looked back at the book. He had been more focused on reading the book and less focused on comprehending the story so he needed to think for a moment before responding.

"Because they're not supposed to read books in their world."

"Why not?"

"Because it'll give them new ideas and the government wants to control them."

"Why?"

"Because then they'll do whatever the government wants them to do."

"Oh."

Kurt waited for a second and then came the inevitable.

"Why?"

"Because if they control them, then they can make the do and think what they want and no one will argue against it because they don't know any better."

"That why you're a Dent?"

Kurt pressed his lips together tightly, looking at Blaine, who actually seemed to be sincerely interested in the answer rather than just using the term to insult him.

"My mom got sick and my dad spent a lot of money trying to make her better…. then she died… and he had no money… and we got taken to service."

That only seemed to confuse Blaine more, "But… if your mom was sick, why did your dad have to pay?"

Kurt shrugged, "Just the way it is…"

"Well that's stupid. Why did you dad borrow money? Why didn't he just use the money he had?"

"He didn't have enough of his own to pay for it so he had to borrow money."

"Why didn't he just get a better job to get more money?"

"Doesn't work that way Blaine…" Kurt said with a soft sigh. "If everyone had good paying jobs then no one would do all the other stuff…. my dad fixed cars. Someone needs to do stuff like that."

"Well why didn't he charge more then?"

"Because then people wouldn't go to him… they'd see someone else who didn't charge as much so they wouldn't have to pay as much money. Don't they teach you this stuff at school?"

Blaine shook his head slowly, "No… we only learn that Dents are 'round 'cause they were irresponsible and didn't take care of their money properly - probably because they're stupid or don't care about things."

Kurt frowned, his lower lip jutting out in pout, "I don't think I'm stupid or don't care… I knew what obnoxious meant and you didn't…."

Blaine shrugged, "Maybe you're just a different kind of Dent."

Was he? Kurt shook his head. "No. I know lots of the other kids are good and smart too… they just ended up in homes where they didn't have enough money or their mom or dad made some bad choices."

"Your dad should've just let your mom be… she died anyhow… what was the point on spending money on her and you ending up as a Dent?"

Kurt looked down, the words in the book on his lap blurring together as he thought of his mother as he had last seen her - so fragile looking in that big hospital bed that seemed to be swallowing her up.

"I would stay in service forever if it meant she couldn't lived another day that I could have hugged her and kissed her and told her I loved her just a bit more…."

Both boys were quiet for a moment after that. Kurt was just trying to reign in his emotions while Blaine seemed to be registering the information.

"I miss my mom…" Blaine said quietly. "But I'm glad she's not dead."

"How long has she been away?" Kurt asked, looking up at the smaller boy.

"Since February… getting things ready for some new factory… I don't know… I wish she would have stayed…."

Kurt nodded, "Yeah… not having a mom around kinda sucks…."

"Yeah…"

"But your dad seems okay." Kurt offered, trying to lift up the mood that seemed to be quickly spiraling downwards.

Blaine shrugged up his shoulders, "I guess… he only ever cares about the company though. When we get home he just goes to his office there and makes calls n' stuff…"

"Least you have him."

"Do you know where your dad is?"

Kurt shook his head. "No… I wish I did… they don't even let us write letters or anything…"

"Did your dad play with you when he was around?"

Kurt nodded, "Yeah. All the time…. even when I wanted to do stuff other kids made fun of me for like tea parties. He's the best dad…."

"Tea parties? Really?" Blaine giggled.

"Yeah! Don't laugh!" Kurt huffed, though inwardly he was happy. He was actually having a decent conversation with Blaine, even if it was a depressing one.

"Only girls do tea parties though!" Blaine snorted as he kept on giggling, cupping his hands over his mouth.

"No they don't 'cause I'm a boy and I had them!"

"My dad says boys don't do that. Boys play sports and play with truck n' stuff."

"I didn't." Kurt asserted, smirking a little at the grin that was now plastered on Blaine's face, even though it was at his own expense.

"What else did you play before you got taken away?"

Kurt looked upward as he thought, memories being given permission to flood into him and casting images over his eyes as he spoke. "I liked to ride my bike… I would play with people dolls and pretend to make them do stuff…. I always like colouring and drawing…."

"Dolls are for girls too."

Kurt shook his head, looking back towards Blaine, "Nuh-uh. They just call 'em action figures for boys."

"Oh…. right."

The door knocked then, and a moment later a woman came in with a platter. "Lunch."

Blaine let the blanket fall off of him as he scooted closer to the table and grabbed his plate. "C'mon Kurt. Sooner we eat, sooner we can play more!"

That was all there was to it. Kurt tried to shake the disbelief from his bones. It seemed way too easy to win over Blaine. He was supposed to be a hardened, spoiled brat - but now Kurt realized he was just a kid that really didn't know any better. In fact, had it not been for the manager reporting Blaine's problematic behaviour to Boss Anderson, Blaine's dad probably wouldn't have even been cognizant of what his son was doing to pass the time during the day at the factory. Kurt didn't have parents because they were pulled away from him in one way or another, Blaine didn't have any just because they were too busy for him.

Kurt didn't know which was worse.

Lunch was delicious. Not the plain, mass produced foods that were portioned out conservatively downstairs, but a veritable blend of flavours and delights that Kurt knew he couldn't talk about to his friends later. He was sure, for example, that Santana would throw him under the bus for the chance to take his place if she knew he was eating roast, and loaded potatoes followed with cupcakes. No, that definitely had to stay a secret.

When they finished up, they did play again - Blaine pulling out a set of army action figures and Kurt leading their pretend play in a recreation of one of the disney movies they both knew. After that was leapfrog, then building a better fort and pretending they were camping, and then they played a small game of soccer in the room which had one of the secretaries coming in and asking them to stop banging the ball against the wall which made them both crack up for a good few minutes after she left.

"She said balls on the walls!" Blaine giggled.

"Stop slamming your balls on the walls boys!" Kurt quoted from her in his best impersonation of the voice, making them both hold their bellies as they laughed.

"Do you have a coat?" Blaine asked when they had managed to calm down.

Kurt shook his head.

"We should get you one and then we could play outside."

That lit Kurt up. "Really? I haven't been out in so long!"

"Oh. Well it's been real rainy around here. Lots of mud. The park is all squishy when you walk on the sand."

"There's a park?"

Blaine nodded, "Yeah. Right across the street. I'll ask my dad if you can have one and he'll say okay because he always says okay when I want stuff and then we can go."

Must be nice to just ask for something and get it, Kurt thought to himself. Maybe he'd ask if Blaine could ask his dad for Kurt to have his own dad back.

The rest of the day was a blur of more play, reading, and snacks in the form of cookies - which Kurt savoured piece by piece much to Blaine's disgruntlement. Blaine always packed the food into his mouth and was ready to play again. Kurt wanted to enjoy his food though since he didn't know how long he'd get the privilege of eating like this.

The afternoon went much more quickly than the morning that way, and before Kurt knew it, he was being ushered out and led back down the stairs as Boss Anderson had come to alert Blaine they would be going home in fifteen minutes. Back to monotony, back to routine, back to being a responsible person in the body of a kid.

Kurt whipped through his schoolwork, ignoring his friends when they poked and prodded at him, trying to get him to tell them how his day was and answer them as to who was the closest in the bet about how many times he'd been kicked that day. He didn't know how to tell them all that maybe they were wrong. Or, maybe, Blaine was the one who was wrong and now realizing the way to be right. Or, maybe, Kurt was just getting into the mindset to be able to handle spending his days with Blaine. Whatever the case, Kurt didn't have as hard a time getting to sleep that night.

* * *

_Author's Note: Can I just say that writing from the mindset of a ten year old is way more difficult than I thought it would be? My own children are nine and seven. My nine year old is considered gifted and talented and well above her peers in verbal and reasoning skills while my seven year old is thankfully quite average. I'm trying to write this based on a midlevel of their own dialogue and actions, but man, motivation for little kids is hard. I get teenagers way better - maybe because I spend all day teaching them and talking with them, and honestly, I'm probably mentally still a teenager myself… I promise this will get better when they get older. I feel like I have to dumb myself down all the time right now._


	6. Chapter 6

The days passed quickly after that. Kurt was given a coat and a pair of shoes for outside and they'd spends hours having make believe adventures in then go little playground by the factory or venturing into the five tree "forest" right by the factory parking lot. One day they'd be pirates, the next princes, and Kurt finally felt like a child again lost in fantasy and fun.

When it got especially hot out during the peak of summer, they'd strip down to their underwear and bring buckets of water in from the factory washroom and dump it into a small, aqua bed in section of the sidewalk, turning it into a little pool for their feet which they'd inevitably end up kicking and splashing at one another.

Of course, Blaine asked questions.

"Why don't you just tell the people in charge that your mom couldn't help getting sick?"  
"Why didn't you and your dad just run away?"  
"How long do you have to work for?"  
"What if you never see your dad again?"  
"Do you still think I'm a mean person?"

Kurt was good at deflecting most of the questions about his servitude, especially since he really didn't know the answers to any of them. Blaine had such a black and white view of the world and Kurt was already well aware there were millions of shades of grey between and that was where life was lived.

But at least on the last question he had an answer.

"I don't think you're mean Blaine... I think you do mean things sometimes because no one has ever taught you better."

Blaine nodded to that. "Mom and dad are too busy to teach me stuff I should know."

"Maybe you should ask them to teach you."

"Maybe since you're my friend you could just teach me Kurt."

So Kurt did - or at least he tried to. He talked about how everyone saw things differently depending on where they grew up and what their parents taught them and what they'd experienced. He tried to explain how what Blaine had been doing to workers in the factory made them feel, and why workers didn't fight back or argue when Blaine came around causing trouble. It seemed like Blaine had been taught a lot about history and math and writing, but not a lot about how people related to one another.

"How'd you learn this stuff Kurt?"

Kurt tried to think, only coming up I with a shrug, "Don't know. My mom and taught just told me if what I was doing was right or wrong and why they thought so... Think that when I heard their reasons I began to think about what other people thought when I did something."

"You said it's called empathy right?"

Kurt nodded.

"I want to be good at that one day too. Like you."

That made Kurt's heart swell up like he didn't know he could. No one had ever paid him a compliment like that before. Usually all he got in terms of compliments was "Good work." or "You made quota. Good."

Back at the factory, his friends still seemed to think he was being brutalized though.

"Bet he made you lay in the sun until you got that sunburn hey?" Noah said one evening as Kurt tried to focus on doing math and not rubbing at the reddened skin over his nose and cheeks. They had played outside so long they hadn't remembered to reapply sun lotion and now he was a lobster all over. It was brutal, but definitely not Blaine's fault.

Kurt had tried explaining to the group that Blaine wasn't actually a total brat, but more like a kid without parents to guide him. That hadn't gone over at all. Without them being able to see it, they didn't believe it, and so Kurt just ignored or tolerated their comments.

"Nice bruise on your forehead cupcake." Santana noted the week after. "Kick or punch?"

It was actually because Kurt had tripped running through the sand in the playground and bonked his head on one of the play structures. Blaine had been quick to fetch help even though Kurt had insisted he was fine.

"Oh Kurt…" Sam said sadly as he watched Kurt limp around a couple days after that. "What did that little butthead do now…?"

Kurt shook his head. Blaine hadn't done anything. Kurt was the one who had suggested they jump off their swings when they were swinging and he was the one that had landed funny. The doctor said it would be fine, and lectured them both for what seemed like the hundredth time that summer on playing safe.

But the pain didn't really bug Kurt at all. His days went so quickly, and he had so much fun. The kids here - they couldn't understand. It had been so long since they really played they had forgotten that bumps and bruises came with that. Blaine was learning too. When Kurt got hurt too badly now to play outside, Blaine was ready the next day with some of his movies from home that they watched in the playroom. They also read books, made puzzles, and played boardgames. Blaine had even introduced him to video games, and Kurt was proud to say that he could keep up with Blaine's skill level in Mario.

"My mom's coming back right before school starts…" Blaine admitted to Kurt softly one afternoon. The mentions of school starting had been more frequent lately, and while Kurt didn't know still exactly when that was for Blaine, he was dreading it. Back to the monotony of the floor. Back to no play. Back to bland foods. No games, no books, no movies, no Blaine.

"That's good right?" Kurt asked, never really sure when it came to how Blaine felt about his parents at any given point in time.

Blaine shrugged, "Haven't seen her in like forever… I'm excited… but I'm worried she's forgotten about me."

Kurt tutted, "Moms and dads don't forget their kids Blaine. My dad and I have been away for much longer than you and your mom have and I know he hasn't forgotten me!"

"But that's different! My mom CHOOSE to go. Your dad didn't…."

It was true, and Kurt knew that at least on that level he had it easier than Blaine. He never had to wonder about his dad's love for him, or his mom's for that matter. They had to be forcibly removed from him in one way or another. He knew they'd never agree to just leaving him behind.

"Your mom loves you Blaine." Kurt tried to say to console him, but instead making Blaine just huff disbelievingly.

"I don't want summer to be done."

Kurt agreed, though probably not for the same reasons Blaine did. He didn't know why Blaine wouldn't want to go back to school though, be around friends all day, be able to socialize, play…. No matter how much Kurt tried to relate to him what his life was life, Blaine never really understood what Dents gave up when they entered into service.

Understanding took experience.

No matter how the pair tried to extend their time together though, the end came when Blaine's mother arrived and Kurt was shuffled back onto the floor with no word to reason to it. Blaine didn't visit the factory anymore and the only information he got on him was when he heard Blaine's parents arguing up on the stairwell about letting a Dent play with him. His mom was volatile. Angry to no end, and Kurt could see where Blaine got his own troublesome behaviour from. She had no problem insulting her husband in front of all his employees, Dent or otherwise, and telling him he was an idiot for letting her son get "mixed up with the wrong kind of kids". Kurt sunk lower into his seat as they fought, wishing he could make himself invisible, and worried that she'd find him and take out her anger on him.

She didn't though. She ended the argument by spitting at her husband and walking right out the door as quickly as her short legs could carry her and that was the last Kurt heard of Blaine. He didn't know whether he had gone to live with his mother, or had a nanny now, or was back in school, and after a month back on the floor, Kurt knew he couldn't expect to see him back or hope that they could be friends any longer. Blaine was gone, and Kurt was left behind.

Always, left behind.


	7. Chapter 7

Days seemed pointless after Kurt's summer of play. Sure, he did his work as meticulously as he always had, but he was also well aware that something dead within him had been reawoken and, short of going back to the training center, there was no way to put it back to sleep.

He didn't count days, much less seasons, and the only thing that seemed to indicate any passage of time was the occasional decorations the non-Dent office staff put up - as if any of the Dents would be allowed to celebrate Halloween, Christmas, Valentines, or Easter anyhow. There was no such thing as vacation time for them. No presents, no treats, no costumes, nothing. What was the point in celebrating when you didn't have the people you loved to celebrate it with?

It was only when he heard that school was being let out for summer soon, courtesy of one of the too loud office employees, that he paid attention. Maybe it meant Blaine would return. Maybe he could play again.

But Blaine didn't return - at least not right away. Kurt watched to see if he'd show up, peeking up every now and then at the railing above, and seeing only the usual adults up there looking back down at them. Blaine was no where to be seen, and eventually Kurt just kept his eyes focused on his work and away from his hopes.

"Ick." Santana grunted during one of their breaks and everyone looked towards where she was looking. A pair of older kids were making out, hot and heavy, in one of the corners. There was no such thing as private space around here, so that was the best they could do.

"Why do they bother?" Sam said, eyes locked on the scene.

"Maybe she wants to make a kid." Noah said, also fixated on the sight.

"Why would any kid want to make another kid? Especially when they're in service?"

"Duh, Kurt. If a Dent has a kid in service they can sell it to an adoption company. Takes a good chunk off their years of service." Santana quipped.

Kurt frowned. Just one more thing wrong with this system in his mind. "Like fast tracking…"

"Exactly.. except you won't catch me ever doing that if I fast track. Get all gross n' fat and then you poop out a baby… ew…"

Noah snickered at that and Sam just made a face of disgust. Kurt was still lost in his thoughts of disbelief.

"You don't poop babies out Santana. They come out through your other hole."

"Wait? Girls have another hole?"

"Ew. Yes Sam."

"Like a pee hole?"

"No. Not that… well we do have that too but…. Anyhow. They can't be making out 'cause they're in love anyhow. Getting in love is stupid when you're in service. They could move one of you at any time and you'd never see that person again."

"Maybe they're bored."

"Maybe they're stupid."

Kurt didn't speak up during any of it, eyes wandering back to the pair who were holding onto one another for dear life. That's when a supervisor took note and a bell went off over their heads as another two supervisors ran in and pulled the pair apart who cried out for one another.

"See…" Noah said softly. "... stupid."

They didn't see either of that pair after that. The rumour being they had both been demoted to different sites. Behaviour rules violated. In a way, Kurt felt badly for them. His mom and dad had always shared hugs and kisses openly, and Kurt saw it as a way they expressed their love for one another, yet it was something Dents weren't allowed to do either.

It was a particularly muggy afternoon when Kurt saw Blaine that summer. The air conditioning system had stopped working earlier on in the week and there didn't seem to be any rush from the bosses to have it fixed. Most of the Dents were sweating through their uniforms on the floor which were quickly discarded once they got to the back. Everyone was drinking water like it was going out of style, and Kurt lamented not getting his hair cut last week when the stylist was by for her bi-monthly visit because his hair kept clinging to his forehead with sticky sweat and sticking to his eyelids since it was just that little bit too long.

"Hi Kurt."

Kurt snapped his head up, looking wide eyed at the boy in front of him who must have grown a couple inches in the past year and now had his curls gelled down on his head. Blaine was standing in front of Kurt's work station where Kurt's fingers, on autopilot, were still making the repetitive sewing motions as he stitched a button on.

"It's okay. You can talk to me. My mom isn't here."

Kurt let out a relieved breath, "Blaine…"

"My dad said you can come upstairs if you want."

Kurt blinked a few times, glancing down at the work in his hands and then back up at Blaine, just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He set his work down and nodded to Blaine, standing up and following him up the stairs quietly without looking back. The cool air hit him and he gasped in relief. The air conditioning upstairs seemed to be working just fine and he groaned softly in delight as it cooled his body down.

"Come on." Blaine insisted, grabbing Kurt's hand and pulling him down the hall so that Kurt had to jog behind him to keep up. He was led into the old playroom, now a storage room and once the door was shut behind him, Kurt received the biggest hug he could imagine.

"I missed you all year! I was so worried they'd transferred you! I begged my dad to let me come back this summer but my mom made me stay with her family for a month until I whined and pouted enough that they let me return!"

"You… missed me?" Kurt gawked, looking at the kid, who now had an inch on him, skeptically.

"Well yeah… duh. You're like my best friend."

That gave Kurt pause. They had spent what? Two months together last year and hadn't seen each other since that and Blaine considered him his best friend? What about all the kids at his school?

"Oh."

"You got taller!"

"So did you. You're taller than me now…"

"Hah!" Blaine beamed, puffing out his chest in triumph and making Kurt giggle.

It didn't take long for their to resume where they had left off last year - playing outside, watching movies, reading. Blaine showed Kurt his newest video games and introduced him to the blockbuster hits of the year. There were more bumps, more bruises, and Kurt's friends presumed Blaine hadn't changed at all whenever Kurt showed up with a new wound. He wore those wounds with pride though. He was Blaine's best friend, and those marks were proof of their play and friendship. The other kids wouldn't understand it, and they didn't have to. Kurt was theirs for most of the year, but during the summer he was Blaine's and that was the best part of his year.

"I don't know why my parents stay together." Blaine admitted one afternoon when they were both doodling.

"Because they love each other?" Kurt offered, looking up and over at the other boy.

Blaine shrugged, "They don't act how people do in the movies when they love each other… and they don't seem to like being together. They always fight around each other."

"My parents fought too…" Kurt said quietly. They had, but he had the feeling it wasn't like what Blaine was experiencing.

"But your dad also spent all his money and money he didn't even have on keeping your mom alive… I don't think my parents would do that for each other." Blaine said with a sigh, shaking his head as he spoke.

"Well at least you'll never have to worry about being a Dent then."

Blaine frowned a little and then looked over at Kurt, "I'd be a Dent if it meant I could hang out with you all the time. I don't have friends like you at school."

"How come?"

Blaine shrugged, "I dunno… I get picked on.. they call me names. I try to be nice like you showed me but they don't care."

"Sorry."

"Not your fault Kurt. They're just jerkheads."

The bit of summer they had together went way too quickly, but at least this time the boys got to say goodbye to one another, hugging each other for a long time before Blaine's dad grunted and pulled his son away as Kurt descended back into the main room, holding back the tears that threatened to erupt as he realized once again just how much he was missing out on by being stuck here and how much he longed for the companionship that Blaine offered him. Once a year was not enough.

But it would have to do.


	8. Chapter 8

There were no birthday celebrations when you were in service and the only indication you ever got that you had increased in age was a statement from the officials along with one of the quarterly wings statements. It was this way in which Kurt knew he went from eleven to twelve, from twelve to thirteen, and from thirteen to fourteen.

Fourteen was the age at which the officials actually came to visit. Kurt was asked if he'd be interested in fast tracking his years of service by doing any one of the following: medical testing, drug testing, sex work, radiation cleanup, or sewage treatment. To each of them, Kurt answered no, and while he stayed at the factory, he saw many of the kids he had started with leave as they were processed for fast tracking, Sam, Santana, and Noah included.

But it wasn't his yearly letter by which Kurt counted time with, it was the summers. Every summer he and Blaine would reunite and spend their summers just in one another's company. Sometimes Kurt would be taller and sometimes it would be Blaine. Every year Kurt would go from pale, pasty white to lightly browned and freckled while Blaine stayed that same shade of tan throughout. Blaine would regale Kurt with stories from the school year and Kurt would come up with fantasy stories of his own in leiu of having anything new to tell Blaine. Between the summers, Kurt found himself called up to work in the offices more and more, and it was clear to everyone that he was favoured by Boss Anderson because of the relationship he shared with his son. No one spited him for it though. It was just the way things were. Boss Anderson had taken a chance on Kurt and it had paid off for them all.

It was the summer of Kurt being fourteen though that everything began to change. For starters, he figured out those quarterly statements he got. SS102, one of the female supervisors, came into the main room and tossed her letter into the air, yelling with triumph about being freed and leaving all "you losers behind". Someone got her letter and was able to start translating it, seeing where the date was that a person was currently scheduled to be freed was assuming they were working in the same position. That translation spread through the staff and Kurt was happy to discover that he was on track to be freed at seventeen. For most of the kids, it was the date of their nineteenth birthday, indicating that their family had huge debt and they would be getting out at the mandatory age for youth, but in Kurt's case, there was no need to fast track.

The next thing that changed was Blaine. When he saw him come through the doors it was like his old friend was moving in slow motion and Kurt couldn't quite figure out why he was holding his breath as he watched him. Blaine had grown as usual, but didn't look like a boy anymore. Somewhere between this summer and the last Blaine had made the leap from boy to man, and Kurt was very aware in that instant that he was gay. Not just a little bit either. He was gold star, 100%, gay. He had to calm the blush in his cheeks and avert his eyes, which had been staring, at the slow motion walk of Blaine towards him.

"Kurt!"

"Blaine… hey… hi!" He looked back at Blaine, just to make sure he hadn't been dreaming, and, sure enough, time seemed to slow down once again. He would have to suffer through the awkwardness because there was no way he could just ignore Blaine while he tried to figure out this sudden change in his body temperature or why there seemed to be invisible birds singing around him.

"Man! You're like… you're taller than me again!" Blaine laughed, and Kurt laughed along with him, unsure of what else he could do to ease the sudden ache in his belly.

They walked together, up towards the stairs and Blaine paused, looking over the main room and tilting his head to one side, "Is it just me or are there less people working here now?"

Kurt shook his head, "No. They haven't been replacing the people who leave over the past six months or so…. we've been told it's because of the expansion."

"Expansion?" Blaine looked back at Kurt who shrugged. Really, the only reason he knew that was because of what he had heard in the offices. People who were on the floor all the time probably knew a lot less.

"Ah well… come on. I have SO much to tell you!" Blaine said brightly and they skipped off towards the old room where Blaine did in fact spend the better part of their first hour reunited telling Kurt all about the drama in school - how everyone was dating now, or broken up, or dating someone else without someone knowing, how evil his teachers were, and how insane the friends he had in school were. Kurt just listened to all of it, pretending that he was Blaine and that was his life. Imagining what he would say or do in Blaine's shoes and what part of the drama he'd play into.

It didn't take long before they were falling over one another, laughing until their stomachs ached and they had to gasp for breath. Blaine would relate a funny story, and Kurt would ask a question that made them both stop and think and then laugh about how hilarious the situation really was that the question had to be asked.

"Oh man! I missed you Kurt!" Blaine said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Really? Still?" Kurt beamed, looking at his old friend with maybe just a little more than the usual fondness.

"Of course you dummy. You're the only one I really feel like I can be totally myself with."

It gave Kurt no shortage of pride to hear that, something he carried inside him for the next week as they played and talked and laughed together as if they had never been parted.

Then one day Blaine come in looking pale and sick.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked for the tenth time that morning as they sat watching a series that Blaine had insisted was "the best thing ever!".

Blaine sighed, paused the movie with the remote and looked over at Kurt steadily. "My parents found out last night…"

Kurt squinted a little, head tipping just off to the side. Was he supposed to know what they found out about?

"That I'm gay Kurt."

"Oh."

OH.

Blaine had never said it to Kurt, and Kurt assumed in the past week that he had been reading too much into the passive little statements Blaine had made around him. Things like "Do you think that celebrity man is hot", and "I would totally date him", and "There's this boy at school that always winks at me." Kurt had all dismissed as his heart trying to take too much of a leap, but now, now he knew Blaine was trying to tell him something without actually telling him.

He played it off casually.

"I take it that it didn't go too well…"

Blaine shook his head. "My mom is the old school traditional sort. She figures I have the devil in me. My dad was okay… but… he said he was sad he'd never have grandkids…"

"What about your older brother?" Kurt had only heard about Cooper from Blaine, never seen him since he was a decade older.

Blaine shook his head, "I think they've already given up on him settling down. The only way they'd get grandkids out of him is if he accidentally knocked up some girl."

Kurt set a hand gently on Blaine's shoulder, "I'm sorry. You know… I don't mind right?"

Blaine made a one breath chuckle followed by a nod. "I know Kurt. Thanks."

"They're not going to ship you off to some Jesus camp or something are they?"

Blaine shook his head, "No. But mom is taking a business trip early now… I think to avoid me and sort out her own feelings. Dad just seems sad about it. I wish I could change."

"Don't you dare." Kurt huffed, crawling himself around so he was sitting in front of Blaine and able to look him dead in the eyes, "You never change Blaine. I kind of like you the way you are."

Blaine's eyes jumped up, catching onto Kurt's and a smile formed on his face that gave him dimples that Kurt had decided just in the past week were adorable. "Alright… just because you… Kurt…. don't want me to change, I won't."

Aside from that little hiccup, the summer went as well as it always had. Kurt got his tan and freckles, and Blaine let his curls loose most days when they were adventuring outside. The only difference of course was that Kurt spent more time admiring Blaine where he used to be more focused on the play at hand, and his distraction followed him right into the evenings when he spent his nights daydreaming about going to school with Blaine and being able to hold his hand and be his boyfriend.

He had never spent more time in the bathroom as he did during that summer.

His distraction though meant that Kurt didn't notice that other things were happening until it was too late. He didn't notice the constant reduction in staff on the main floor, the frantic behaviour of the bosses in the office, or even the reduction in his food portions every day. It wasn't until he finally saw that Blaine looked sad whenever he mentioned his dad or passed his dad in the hall that Kurt realized something was up.

"They're going to close this factory." Blaine finally admitted to Kurt at the end of summer, choking back a sob and looking at Kurt with big worried eyes.

Kurt had no words. This had been his home for four years now, and if he didn't have this place, he wouldn't have Blaine in his summers. He may have had only three years left of service, but without anything to look forward to aside from reuniting with his dad, he didn't know how he'd survive.

The boys held each other and cried freely, Blaine trying to tell Kurt he was trying to get his dad to transfer Kurt to another close factory so they could still see one another and Kurt babbling nonsense that didn't even make sense in his head.

They had to be peeled apart that day, and the next day Kurt saw the officers come for him as he came out of the boy's dorm. After crying his eyes out the day before, he had no more fight in him, and held out his hands to have the cable ties attached to his hands with the tag that would determine where he would exist next. Above him, he could hear Blaine calling down to him, struggling against his dad who was holding him back, away from Kurt, and away from the fact that this was a part of a Dent's life.

Kurt didn't look back as he was led off.


	9. Chapter 9

"Azimio your safety checks weren't done on schedule yesterday. The bosses don't like that. Karofsky you were spotted without your hat on. Again, the bosses don't like that. Remember people. Rule three here is safety, safety, safety. Now get to work. I have a new group to bring in and hopefully they actually listen!"

Kurt dismissed his assigned Dents with a wave of his hand, ignoring their grumblings, particularly Karofsky's, as he went to hang up his shift start clipboard and get his training clipboard from the supervisor shack located near the front of the warehouse.

For the past two years he'd worked here, and it wasn't really all that bad. It was a lot of heavy lifting, which, when done incorrectly, could be hard on the back, but they all got their own cots and the bosses were actually decent enough people. Kurt had just been promoted internally to the position of second shift supervisor, and he was eager to see what his next quarterly statement looked like with the change. Hopefully it meant he could be released that much sooner. His last statement gave him a year, with a promotion, a few months could be taken off of that. He was close to freedom, and it thrilled him to no end.

So thrilled in fact, that it was easy to ignore the blatantly homophobic and hateful remarks he had to endure from a couple of his shift workers - Karofsky and Azimio. They were always doing little things to get themselves in trouble, but not enough trouble to have themselves demoted. It reflected poorly on Kurt. Moreover they had zero respect for him, and they made sure he knew it. He could handle it though. Just a little while longer. He had gotten through years of service, he could do a bit more.

Today he was getting in three new recruits to replace three workers that had either gone to fast track or had been demoted for violating safety convention. As he walked to where he saw the officers escorting the new recruits off the van and scanning them, Kurt stopped in his tracks and took in a sharp breath.

Blaine. Blaine Anderson. There was no mistaking those curls and those eyes, which had settled back on him and looked to be in just as much shock as he was. He was a Dent now. Oh god…

Somehow, Kurt found his voice as one of the officers handed him the paperwork for the three newbies. He had a job to do. He would handle this shock once he was done.

"Okay recruits! Follow me! Tour and rules first, then a meal, and then training!"

Kurt had to keep up the facade of being indifferent to Blaine, walking ahead of the group and telling them about their new station.

The warehouse dealt with shipping and receiving. It was huge and operated twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The bosses preferred older Dents, and so they were a little more lax with rules to avoid losing the older kids to fast-tracking. Younger kids didn't have the strength required to move a lot of the goods around, even with the forklifts and pulleys they utilized. There were only boys, so the washroom that said it was for girls could be used by both groups, which was good because it opened up another shower to them. The offices that the bosses worked in were off limits except to supervisors. When Kurt got to the center of the building, he made a flourish of his hands towards the palettes that had been set up to create private rooms.

"Here's Palette Town. This is where we all stay. The bosses have been kind enough to allow us to use the broken palettes to create walls and roofs so we all have a bit of privacy. Everyone had their own cot, and we'll figure out which of the rooms have been freed up by the people you've replaced so that you can settle in. The doors…" He made air quotes for the word doors. "... are just ripped tarps. We have it set up so your neighbours on either side will either be on shift or on their break time during your sleep time, but the noise from the warehouse still will get in. You'd better get used to beeps and yelling and engines if you intend to fall asleep around here."

Kurt continued going over the expectation as he walked to the break room, the recruits following him. He had been good about avoiding Blaine's eyes the whole tour so far. Hopefully he could last until meal time and then talk.

"Eight hours on shift, eight hours off, eight hours for sleep." Kurt dictated as he entered the much quieter breakroom where several off shift Dents looked up in curiosity at the new recruits. "School work is done by modules and to be done during your eight hours off. You can do it in your pallette room or in here. There's also a games room over there…" He pointed to an open door in the back, "... and meals are over there…" He pointed the other way to another door. "Meals are prepackaged and you can eat your fill here. If you have any special dietary requirements the office will note those when they process your papers and you can expect special meals starting tomorrow."

He showed them the meal room, and allowed everyone to grab something to eat while he got himself a snack and went to sit at one of the tables. It didn't take a minute before Blaine was sitting across from him.

"Hey…."

"Blaine."

They just looked at one another for a moment, Kurt letting himself sink into those amber eyes he had only been able to see in his memories of happy summers. Then Kurt remembered he was still technically on shift and cleared his throat, "What happened?"

Blaine looked down, picking at the bread around the sandwich he had chosen for himself. "After they took you away… the other Dents were taken away over the next week… the bank shut down the factory. My parents said they had overextended the "empire", but that everything would be okay…. it wasn't."

"They got themselves into debt…" Kurt said quietly.

Blaine nodded, "I was three months into the new school year when I was picked up there and taken to the training center."

"Oh Blaine…." Kurt moved his hand across the table, then, remembering himself, made it into a fist and drew it back. "I'm so sorry."

Blaine shrugged, "Is what it is." He made a soft chuckle. "Guess I never should have wished to be a Dent so we could spend all our time together hey?"

Kurt just shook his head. Sweet little Blaine, looking older now not just by a couple years, but by a decade. He had bags under his eyes and a sadness to his face that had never been there before. Blaine was taller, but also looked smaller, like he had shrunk before the world. "I wish I could have seen you again under different circumstances."

Blaine nodded, "Yeah… me too… but hey. You seem to be doing okay… and this doesn't look like that bad of a position…"

Kurt nodded in return, "It really isn't. Occasional machismo jerk you might have to work with, but the bosses are generally kind and if there's something they can do to make things easier on us they will. You know I'll look out for you too right?"

For the first time since Kurt had seen him that day Blaine smiled gently, which prompted Kurt to smile in return. "I'm glad you're here. The last couple years have been hell."

"Where were you posted before?"

"A recycling plant. It was disgusting. Everything was sticky and smelly."

Kurt chuckled, "You always hated being dirty. Even when we had cake you hated getting icing on your fingers."

"It's gross. I can't focus on anything else but the stickiness."

They laughed and talked for awhile longer, at least until Kurt again remembered he had a job to do and got them up and gathered the other two recruits, taking them around to show them the equipment they'd be trained on and reiterating over and over again that safety was the biggest thing around here.

When he left the new guys to get operator training and went to the office, he peeked at Blaine's paperwork. He was AB216. He was in until he was nineteen. He had no special dietary requirements. He was on Kurt's shift.

Small blessings, Kurt said within himself, handing the papers over the the guy at the desk.

The next step was assigning the palettes to the guys. Kurt made sure Blaine had the one that was the nearest to his own, even though there was a few rooms worth of space between them. Then he set about his normal business - overseeing the loads and checking off on transfers and shipments.

When the shift was over, he quickly went to find Blaine, dragging him back to the dining room with a broad grin where the pair of them ate and recounted old memories. Blaine admitted he was going to need a lot more training on the forklift and Kurt just insisted it wasn't as hard as it looked and he'd get it eventually.

"Fuckin' fags." Karofsky huffed as he passed by with his own meal and sat down at a table across the room.

Blaine's brow wrinkled up as he went quiet and looked at Kurt curiously, "Did he just actually say what I think he did?"

Kurt nodded, "Don't worry about him though… he's always angry."

"But you're a supervisor… he can't talk to you like that."

"Don't worry about it Blaine."

"Or was he talking to me? How did he know I…"

"He was talking to me Blaine." Kurt said with a sigh, "Don't worry about it please."

"You're gay?"

Kurt had to chuckle at that, "Yes Blaine. Very much so in case my voice wasn't enough of a give away."

"But I figured you…"

"What?"

"Well when I asked if you liked different guys in the magazines we looked at that last summer together you always avoided the question… so I figured you weren't."

"Is that why you were asking me?"

"Well… yeah, actually."

"You're still an idiot Blaine." Kurt said with a smile the belied his true intentions.

"And you're still my best friend."

Kurt smiled and shook his head, focusing on finishing his microwave heated mashed potatoes and roast which had already cooled since he hadn't been paying them enough attention. After two years could Kurt really still be considered a best friend? Did it even matter?

It was nice that Kurt had someone he knew he'd be able to relate to around. While most of the guys around here were decent enough, they were all the grunting, barely-passing classes, neanderthals type that had nothing to offer in the way of interesting conversation. Kurt had mostly kept to himself these past couple years, and while it had paid off in that he had gotten a promotion, it was a lonely existence.

And now Blaine was there again, right in front of him, and as cute as ever. Without gel his hair was wild and he had started growing scruff on his face that Kurt had never really been able to do much of himself. He looked like a man. A real man. It sent shivers down Kurt's spine and he had to twitch to shake them out of him. Would Blaine think Kurt had grown more? Certainly Kurt was taller now, still taller than Blaine, and he knew all the physical work he had done in the warehouse had given him muscles and tone where only softness had been before, but did he look like a man like Blaine did?

"I'm sorry about what happened Blaine… but I'm glad you're here with me." Kurt admitted, speaking to his potatoes.

"I'm glad too… and as for what happened… don't worry about it. Wasn't your fault. If anything I feel like a dummy for how I treated Dents when I was little. I feel like this is karma catching up with me now."

"No!" Kurt looked up and shook his head, "You can't think that…. Blaine… I knew you… you were sweet."

Blaine laughed at that. "Sweet. Right. I still remember the time I kicked you in the shin. That was not sweet."

"You didn't know any better."

"Sure I did." Blaine shrugged. "But what's done is done. My parents made bad choices… and out of greed, not love, like your dad did. It's okay though. I'm okay. Really okay now that I'm here with you."

"I hope you mean that Blaine." Kurt said with a sigh as he sat back in his chair, "Because I need you to work your butt off for me now and not get demoted. I'm getting real tired of you showing up for a few months at a time in my lift and then disappearing. You need to stick around this time."

Blaine laughed. "Sure Kurt, sure."


	10. Chapter 10

Kurt kept a close eye on Blaine over the course of his first week in the warehouse. He even spent extra time with Blaine to make sure he knew the machinery inside and out so that Blaine was that much more successful at what he was doing. Despite that though, Blaine looked more and more exhausted with each passing day, and Kurt racked his brain to try and figure out why, going through his own memories of coming to the warehouse until it hit him.

"Hey Blaine. Trouble sleeping?" Kurt asked, peeking into the palette room assigned to Blaine and grinning as he saw his friend pulling the blanket right up over his nose, confirming his suspicions about why Blaine seemed so tired.

"Uh-huh…" Blaine grunted, turning towards Kurt but never taking the blanket off him.

"Is it the noise?"

"No… it was noisier in the recycling center with all the clacking and clinking of bottles and cans all the time…"

"The cot then?"

Blaine shook his head from behind the blanket, "No. It's fine. Firmer than the last one I had actually."

"Well then… it can only be one thing…" Kurt said with a knowing grin as he slipped into the small room and crouched down beside Blaine's cot.

"S'cold." Blaine grunted, looking at Kurt with those amber eyes that were all too readable - at least to Kurt.

"Well we are in the center of a large concrete building that uses an insane amount of air conditioning to keep the foods we ship cold." Kurt tutted.

"How do people sleep then?"

"Well a lot of the guys, you'll notice, eat enough to keep a good layer of insulation on them."

Blaine huffed. "No thanks. What about you?"

"Well I…." He set a pair of gloves and woolen socks then on the side of Blaine's cot that he had been keeping behind his back, "... use these. I'll also have a hot shower before bed and try to fall asleep while I'm still warm, and if that all fails - hot tea helps me heat up."

Blaine's cold nose peeked out then as he pulled the blanket down and reached to take the gloves and socks. "Thanks…. "

"You're welcome."

After that Blaine seem much better rested, and Kurt applauded himself for his good work on taking care of him. It wasn't just the sleep though. Kurt made sure to tell Blaine which foods were better for him to eat in the long run, how to check nutritional information on the packages, and how to avoid the stupid mistakes some of the other workers made that could get him hurt. Blaine listened to it all, always thanking Kurt, always staying close to him when he could.

Of course, that only drew the ire of Karofsky, who now not only targeted Kurt, but Blaine as well, and if there was one thing Blaine did lack, it was the capacity to ignore the bully.

"Faggot."  
"Fatass."  
"Gaywad."  
"Lardo."  
"Fairy."  
"Neanderthal."

"Stop it you two!" Kurt snapped at them both, thoroughly exhausted with the exchange and the lack of work they were responsible for because they had been too focused on one-upping the other. "Are you actively trying to get demoted!?"

Karofsky just grunted and glared at Blaine and Kurt in turn before going back to loading boxes of paper onto a freight truck. From Blaine, Kurt got an apologetic look at least.

After shift, Blaine did apologize, but it spiralled from "I'm sorry" to "He just is a total jerk and you shouldn't let him get away with that. It's not right. He should…."

Kurt sighed, listened to all Blaine had to said, and then looked steadily back to his friend. "What would be the point?"

Blaine blinked a few times, taken aback, "What do you mean what would be the point?"

"They're just words Blaine… You called me names too when we were younger."

"But I was wrong! You taught me… you showed me… prejudice is just ignorance. Once I learned the truth I didn't use those words anymore."

For all his general naivety, Blaine did have a point. One that had Kurt staring deep into his soup and thinking for most of dinner until Blaine spoke up again.

"I know you want to be liked Kurt… you always have… but this guy isn't going to respect you if you just keep being nice and ignoring his insults. You need to have courage."

"Courage…" Kurt huffed and looked back up to Blaine, "... what do you know about courage?"

"I know you have more of it than you think you do. I know you're the strongest person I've ever known, and probably will ever know."

Kurt cracked a smile over one side of his face. That had to be the best compliment he had ever received, if not the most inaccurate. He had never felt like a strong person. He had never fought or argued, aside from with Blaine, and he certainly never stood up to people - especially the big ones that looked like they could snap him in half within a second.

But it was nice to know Blaine thought so highly of him anyhow.

Now whenever Karofsky said something or pushed past Kurt, instead of getting angry and protective, Blaine would instead mouth the word 'courage' over to Kurt. It was a simple little act, but one that lit up Kurt to the point he was almost wishing Karofsky would say something just so he could get that little word out of Blaine's mouth.

Until, of course, it went beyond small shoves and slurs.

Kurt had just finished up with a delivery man and was checking off the packing checklist item by item to make sure all the inventory was there when Karofsky more than shoved him in passing, instead launching Kurt back against the boxes and forcing him to stumble over his own feet as he tripped backwards and landed on his ass. The whole scene elicited a chuckle out of Karofsky and Blaine wasn't even there to tell him to stand up for himself.

Regardless, the word courage flashed through his mind and he jumped up, ignoring the pain in his tailbone, and rushed after Karofsky with a yell.

"Hey! Hey! What is your problem?!" Kurt cried, following Karofsky into the mens washroom.

"Excuse me?" Karofsky huffed, glancing around the washroom.

"I said, what is your problem?!" Kurt said, pushing himself up on his toes to get in Karofsky's face.

"Besides you coming in here to look at my junk?"

"Oh right, every straight guy's nightmare." Kurt ranted freely, "That all us gays are out to convert or molest you. Well guess what? You're not my type!"

Karofsky stopped darting his eyes around, looking for backup for an exit, or whatever it was he was trying to do to get Kurt's face out of his own - but with that last statement spat right out of Kurt he stopped and looked right back at Kurt.

"That right?"

"Yeah. I don't dig chubby boys who are going to be bald by the time they're thirty." He knew he was pushing things at this point, but it felt so good to get the words out of his system.

"Do not push me." Karofsky said, a shudder in his breath as Kurt assumed he was readying himself for some retaliation. An assumption confirmed when Karofsky brought a fist up and pointed it at Kurt, who glanced at it from the corner of his eye before spitting back.

"You going to hit me? Do it."

He saw another tremble pass through Karofsky, who looked to be right on the edge. Instead of feeling the fear his rational mind told him he should feel, Kurt instead felt liberated as Blaine's voice, speaking courage, flooded his mind with confidence he didn't know he had.

"Don't push me!"

"Hit me because it's not going to change who I am. You can't punch the gay out of me anymore than I can punch the ignoramus out of you!"

That was it. Kurt knew Karofsky's peak at been reached, and yet, he still stood, facing off with the ogre of a man, both red in the face and barely blinking.

"Get out of my face!" It was more of a cry and less of a threat, and again Kurt shoved his rational thoughts telling him to back off to the back of his mind.

"You are nothing more than a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are!"

On his last word, Kurt expected to be hit, he expected to be punched or kicked or spat on. What he didn't expect was Karofsky's hand so rapidly unfurling and attaching itself to Kurt's cheek as Karofsky plunged his lips down on Kurt's.

That's when his rational mind came back into being, chirping a quiet "Told you so…" as Kurt froze in place, eyes going wider than they had ever been before. When Karofsky pulled off, he looked at Kurt so insanely needy and tried to go in for a second kiss but Kurt managed to regain control of his arms and pushed Karofsky back with one hand as the other went to cover his mouth in shock and protection.

Oh fuck.

Karofsky gave him another look, slamming his hand against the wall as he spun in place to find an exit - the only one being behind Kurt since Kurt had been so insistent on corning Karofsky to give him shit. Now it was clearly a terrible idea.

Kurt tried to pull himself back along the wall, give Karofsky passage to move past just so that he could get beyond feeling the need to be defensive and start processing what the hell just had happened, but the corridor into the washroom was so small, and Karofsky was so huge.

"You… you just can't…" Karofsky stuttered, eyes rimmed with tears along the bottom before he pushed his meaty hands against Kurt's shoulders out of the blue, pinning him back against the wall and trying to reconnect their lips once more.

Kurt cried out, arms trying to shove Karofsky away again, though this time finding resistance as each attempt to push him away only led to Karofsky pinning him harder and pushing his mouth against his own with a greedier hunger Kurt didn't even know could exist. Everytime he got even a fractional second of air, Kurt used it to wail, cry, yelp, or make noise. This was a busy building, why the hell wasn't anyone else around?

Footsteps did come though, voices yelled, and Kurt was so overwhelmed by everything Karofsky that he couldn't tell who or what was there. Karofsky's cheeseburger lips were making him gag, the smell of his sweat made his stomach turn, and the press of Karofsky's body on his just made Kurt wish he could be absorbed by the wall he was against. The voices yelled some more and then Karofsky was forcibly detached from Kurt who stayed huddled against the wall.

"Kurt.. Kurt…" One voice registered from the others and he looked towards the head with a mop of curls and overly bright brown eyes. "Oh Kurt…."

It took him awhile to piece himself back together, but if anything was true about Kurt, it was that he was a fighter on the inside if not the outside. Blaine stayed at his side the whole time he required to shake off the shock and then again when he was giving his statement to the bosses who were going through the camera footage at the same time he spoke.

Karofsky was led away in an officer's van.

On one hand, Kurt felt nothing but total relief, but on the other he did feel bad for Karofsky, who clearly felt so repressed and self-hating that his own homosexuality had tried to erupt out of him in what was a veritable emotional explosion.

"You can take the rest of the day off." The bosses insisted, giving Blaine the same opportunity when they saw just how attached the two boys were.

Blaine made sure Kurt ate something, even though his stomach was in turmoil, and made sure Kurt showered, which Kurt spent an extra long time at in his efforts to wash away the smell of Karofsky. Blaine even tucked Kurt into his bed for a nap and read him stories until Kurt was sound asleep.

Courage, his dreams reminded him, courage.

"I feel so guilty… I didn't know… I shouldn't have…" Blaine admitted when Kurt had woken up and was finally up to talking about what all had happened.

"It's not your fault Blaine. Not even for an instant. Don't you dare think it is."

"But… that was your first kiss right? Shouldn't have been like that."

Kurt shrugged, "I'm sure I'll have a better one later that will erase the memory." He couldn't help but eye Blaine's lips as he said it, wondering to himself if he should be that eager to taste Blaine's lip so soon after being forced into a kiss he didn't want by a guy who didn't seem to bother with his oral hygiene enough.

"I hope so Kurt…" Blaine said, glancing up and connecting his eyes with Kurt's, "You deserve it."


	11. Chapter 11

With Karofsky gone and Azimio watching his own tongue now after the example set by Karofsky's departure, things were much easier on shift for Kurt. Things went quicker, the new recruit that replaced Karofsky had boundless energy that helped get jobs done faster, and Kurt felt more free than ever to check out Blaine when his back was turned, no longer worried about homophobics (or closet homosexuals for that matter) making comments on his ogling eyes.

He was still a teenaged boy in his core after all. Kurt was well aware it would do no one any good to act on his crush, see if Blaine felt the same, or even flirt playfully. He couldn't get his hopes up because if there was one rule that was maintained at the warehouse, it was that there were to be no relationships of that manner. It was one of the major reasons why the bosses only hired male Dents - to avoid relationship issues, but Kurt couldn't imagine they'd be supportive of a same-sex relationship either, especially one that was doomed to separation eventually. Blaine was in until the mandatory age release of nineteen and Kurt only had less than a year.

Kurt still hadn't told Blaine that little detail yet. He didn't want to impose a time limit on their friendship when he didn't even know if they'd ever see one another again after he was released. For now, Kurt just wanted to enjoy his time with Blaine and secretly look forward to seeing his dad again.

"Hey. How do you do this?" Blaine asked, shuffling his math module towards Kurt so he could take a look.

"Mmm…" Kurt said, thinking as he took a sip of juice before grabbing a pencil and sketching out the process for Blaine, "Algebra. Nice."

Blaine chuckled and just shook his head as he watched Kurt and listened to his explanation of how to go through the process. "How have you been able to teach yourself how to do this stuff? I honestly need a teacher to guide me…. this is so much harder to try and figure out on your own…"

Kurt smiled and went back to working on an outline for the english essay assignment in front of him. "Really… I've been doing it for so long now I don't remember what having a teacher is like."

Blaine sighed, scratched his head with the pointed end of his pencil, and then went back to work on his math. "I wish I didn't remember. School was so much easier than this and yet I thought it was so hard when I was in it… thankfully I have you at least to help me out."

Kurt just grinned and shrugged, leading them back into silence to get their schoolwork done so they could have some free time later. Most of the guys in the warehouse weren't nearly as studious as Kurt and Blaine were - usually rushing through modules right before they were due and barely passing, if they passed at all. Kurt didn't want to end up behind though when he got out, so he had always made a concerted effort not to get behind and to try and understand everything he was doing.

It would have been easier to focus though if Blaine hadn't been sniffing and snuffling every minute though.

"You should go to the bathroom if you need to blow you nose." Kurt said quietly, pointedly, wanting to get his work done and having a hard time focusing with the constant interruptions.

"Sorry…" Blaine murmured, ducking his head down and trying to focus in on his math.

The sniffling continued though, and Kurt managed to get his english done, but only by sighing in exasperation every time Blaine's nose started getting too noisy for his liking which prompted Blaine to finally go empty it out in the washroom. The warehouse was always dusty, so stuffy noses were the norm - Kurt would have just preferred that Blaine deal with it rather than ignore it.

Except it became clear that it was more than just a stuffy nose when Blaine's eyes started watering during their free time, in which they chose to watch a movie in one of the backrooms.

"It's not a sad movie…." Kurt noted in confusion as he looked over at Blaine who was rubbing his eyes to the point of rubbing them right out.

"I know… they're just… they feel like they're burning from behind…"

Kurt frowned and lifted a hand which he placed to Blaine's forehead. "Jeeze Blaine…. you have a fever…"

"Oh…"

Kurt rolled his eyes, turned off the TV, and proceeded to lead the man-child friend of his to his palette where he helped him on with his socks and gloves and tucked him in. "God Blaine… if you were sick you should have just said so…"

Blaine made a small whine, grinning weakly up at Kurt who proceeded to go and get him a second blanket as he chanted his mother's old mantra of "Feed a fever, starve a cold." she used on him when he was small and sick.

"I'll bring you some water, which you'll drink all down. We'll flush the sick out of you." Kurt said. Blaine just gave him a little nod in return, though was already asleep when Kurt came back with the water.

"Goofball…" Kurt said with a smirk, shaking his head and setting the water down before going to shower himself and put himself to bed, sure that Blaine would feel better in the morning.

But when Blaine didn't show up for his morning shift and Kurt went to check on him, he found that the fever was still in full force and Blaine was whimpering softly, complaining his his whole body aching and being on fire.

"I'll see if I can get the bosses to bring in a nurse or doctor Blaine…." Kurt said softly, reaching to squeeze Blaine's hand gently and not try to convey the fact the he was officially worried now.

The bosses promised to call the Dent Medical line and get someone in, telling Kurt to check in with them after his shift to ensure it was done. His whole shift was agonizing, knowing that Blaine was having to lay in that cot alone, no one to watch over him or check up on him to make sure he was okay or if he needed anything.

By the time his shift was over, Kurt was running to the palettes, finding Blaine still fixed in place where he had left him earlier that day, reeking of piss and vomit which was puddled on the floor. In shock, Kurt stood in the little doorway, watching Blaine just whimper and cry to himself, completely unaware of Kurt's presence. Why hadn't anyone come? Why did Kurt even worry about work if this was what it meant?

He ran to the office, telling the bosses that Blaine was worse. They assured him that the Dent Medical line said someone would be in tomorrow to check on Blaine.

"Not good enough! He's really sick!" Kurt huffed.

"Well that's the best we can do."

It infuriated Kurt, but he didn't have any power, certainly not enough to fight them on the matter and get himself in trouble. He returned to the palette room with a washbucket, clean clothes, and new blankets. First he cleaned off the vomit, hiding his nose inside the top of his shirt cuff to mute the stench as he did. Then he peeled off the sticky blankets and pulled Blaine up, leading him to the shower slowly with much of his weight supported by Kurt.

"Where we goin'?" Blaine murmured, half-way there already.

"You need to be washed."

"Mmm…. kay."

Kurt only took a moment to hesitate, to see if Blaine could wash himself so he could avoid having to strip his friend down himself and clean him - but it was abundantly clear by the way Blaine was wobbling in place and so out of sorts that he wouldn't be able to do that.

So Kurt stripped him down, blushing and averting his gaze when it came to revealing Blaine's most private parts, and led him into the shower. Despite the fact that it meant his clothes would get sprayed, Kurt stayed dressed as he helped Blaine wash up, shampoo and condition his hair, and dry off.

"M' naked…" Blaine noted blearily, looking down at himself while Kurt fumbled to get him into clean clothes after the whole process.

"Yes you are." Kurt said stiffly, struggling to get Blaine's foot through a pant leg.

"Did we have sex?"

Kurt made a small choking sound as his breath seemed to have trouble passing when his ears registered the question, ears burning red to the tips. "No. I… I just helped you shower!"

"Oh. Too bad."

Kurt couldn't handle this. He had no medical training. Everything he knew came from memories of his mom or school health modules. He knew Blaine probably needed medicine, or some kind of mature adult overseeing his care, and Kurt was worried he was going to make Blaine worse.

But what choice did he have?

Once dressed, he led Blaine back to Palette Town, taking him to his own room and laying him down in his own cot. It didn't reek of urine in there at least, he told himself. He left only to get fresh blankets, water, and some advil to help with Blaine's fever, making him take it this time and not letting him fall back asleep until he had.

Then he rested against the cot, sitting on the floor, and watched and waited for Blaine to get better. He had to get better.

Despite the advil, Blaine's fever got worse throughout the night, and Kurt went to get cold cloths to set on his forehead to try and help the burning he complained of.

"I don't wanna be sick Kurt…" Blaine whined softly, looking towards him with slitted eyes that seemed pained by any light.

"I know Blaine… doctor or nurse will be in tomorrow… then you'll be okay. They'll make you okay…"

"You should kiss me better."

Again Kurt's ears ran red, as did his cheeks. "God you're a goof when you're sick."

"But I always want you to kiss me…"

"You're sick Blaine." Kurt sighed, remoistening the now hot rag in the bucket of ice water he had beside the bed before reapplying it. "You don't know what you want."

"You looked up at me when I first saw you… I wanted you then."

Kurt was quickly transported back to that first memory he had of meeting Blaine, being so angry and eyes snapping up to meet Blaine's. Blaine tattling to his father. He remembered that?

"You were a kid. You didn't know what you wanted."

"Still a kid… but know that I want you…"

If Kurt's hair could blush, it would have, as the rest of his body was already flush with nervous embarrassment. It had to be the sickness talking.

"Shh… Blaine… when you're better, we can talk about it…."

"Kiss me?"

Kurt chuckled, "No. For one, you're sick and I don't want whatever it is you have right now. Two, we'd get in trouble. Three, you'd probably regret it when you felt better."

"You don't like me?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. It was like talking with Blaine from years ago. So immature and uninhibited. "I like you Blaine… I always have… but… " He sighed. "You need to get better."

"Mmm… okay… then you'll kiss me." Blaine murmured sleepily, mouth smacking as he rolled onto his side and flung an arm around Kurt's waist as much as he could before dozing off.

Kurt grinned down at the little bit of affection he had received, though gently unwound himself from it, not willing to get himself in trouble, or Blaine, by being caught like that. He could explain why Blaine was in his room, but not that.

"Kurt Hummel?"

Kurt blinked a few times at the unfamiliar voice speaking his real name outside of his room. He got to his feet and crept out, coming face to face with two officers.

"Oh good. Are you here to see -YEOW!"

Without warning, one of the officers had put something behind his ear and now he had a throbbing pain back there. He reached up to clamp a hand over it, which was pulled away by the offending officer and replaced with a cotton ball. "Hold that there for a moment until the bleeding subsides."

"What that?" Kurt looked between them, then down at the device they had jammed behind his ear which held a little chip with his blood and skin on it.

Oh.

His digital ID tag.

"Kurt Hummel. You have served your time. Your forms are with your guardian who is outside waiting for you."

"Huh?" He looked back up. "Guardian? My dad?"

"As you are no longer an Indentured Servant, you must immediately leave these premises."

"Wait… what?"

"Follow us."

"But Blaine…." Kurt looked back at the Palette Room, "He's really sick and needs help."

"Indentured Medical Support will be notified. What is his ID?"

"AB216."

One of the officers pushed several buttons on a keypad and then nodded, "Very good. Follow us now."

Confusion. If there was a word to describe how Kurt felt in that moment, that was it. He followed them, a blur of emotions and feelings, but overwhelmingly confused. Didn't he have another year? Was Blaine going to be okay? Was his dad really out there?

The last question was answered as soon as he stepped outside. There, facing him, slightly aged but definitely the same person, was his dad.

"Kurt!"

"Dad!"

He was free.


	12. Chapter 12

It was difficult transitioning from always being on someone else's schedule to being on his own. While in service, he always knew when to work, when to sleep, even when to do his schoolwork even if he had a little more control over that at the warehouse. After a couple months out of service though, he had it figured out. He made his own schedule so he felt like he still had a purpose, though now the purpose was his own and that felt insanely wonderful.

In the morning, he got up, snuck around the small one bedroom apartment his dad had rented for them both, and made breakfast for them both. It had been a long time since he had cooked for himself, the last time being with the aid of his mom, but after a few fire-alarms, he had it figured out. The smell of food always managed to wake up his dad who always insisted that Kurt didn't have to make them breakfast, which Kurt insistently shut down as they both ate.

Kurt would shower then, keeping it short since he didn't want to increase the water bill more than necessary, and get dressed in an ensemble created from pieces of clothing he would buy from the second-hand store he worked at after school.

School.

Clearly he had the right idea about making sure he understood the material and work involved when he had been doing modules because he transitioned into his classes with no problem. He had no issues with the work, and was, in fact, ahead in some courses. Academically he was fine, and intended to keep it that way so he could earn scholarships at the end of high school. He was not taking out any loans to pay for college.

Socially though, things were different. He wasn't used to the needless drama, the immaturity, and the pettiness that regular kids existed in. In a lot of ways, Kurt didn't have the patience to put up with a lot of his classmates, who seemed more interested in what was going on between classes than in class. He got along well with his teachers, always thanking them for their lessons, which he noticed no one else did and certainly made his teachers blink in surprise, and ate his lunch by himself, working on homework as he did to ensure he was on top of things as he'd ever been.

Kurt never let it out that he'd been a Dent. It wasn't that he was ashamed of what he'd had to do to help his family out, it was just he didn't really talk to anyone else and there was no point in telling anyone.

Work was a little bit better. It was what he was used to after all. He stocked shelves, sorted through donations, and helped cash customers through. His boss regularly told him how much she appreciated his work ethic. One of the benefits of the job was the clothing too. Kurt and his dad couldn't afford new stuff on his dad's wages and his own wages, but Kurt was allowed dibs on five donated items per week, which helped them fill their closets in no time. It was a big store, and very busy, making Kurt wonder just how many people were in his shoes with limited funds to support the simplest act of being able to cover yourself up.

His dad had been working as a mechanic for the past eight years, same boss, no promotions or demotions. His boss had been so impressed that he paid for promotion increases on his dad's account, and when it came up that his dad had less than a year to go in service, he had made him an offer. His boss would pay out the rest of his debt so he could be with his son sooner, if Burt stayed on and worked for his for at least the next five years.

Burt had eagerly accepted, and that's why Kurt had been able to reunite with his dad so much sooner.

It was weird. Going from being eight and having a dad that towered over you and that represented half of your entire world, to being sixteen and having a dad that was the same height as you and who almost seemed like a stranger in the clothing of memories. Burt always seemed a little sad when he looked at Kurt, and apologized for what had happened almost constantly.

"I don't blame you or fault you for it dad. It was mom. I understand."

Burt just shook his head, "It was bad all around… they shouldn't have punished you for it though."

"It's okay dad. We're together again."

"But…. we've missed out on so much together. It wasn't right."

Kurt smiled sweetly to his dad, so much less a giant now than he had been in Kurt's memories and so much more an equal now, "We'll make it up dad. It's all good."

They shared their stories. Kurt's a little more interesting than his dad's endless days at the mechanic store. Kurt told his dad all about Blaine, and expressed his worry over how Blaine was.

"It's good you found someone to relate to son… but you know we can't go back to where Dent's are. They keep Dent's and "regulars" separated… they like Dents out of sight and out of mind."

Kurt nodded. He had realized that now that he was out in the real world. He knew there were Dent's working at the post office - just not serving customers at the front. He knew his dad's boss employed Dent's, but they'd never work the counter or the area where customers could check out their work - always in the back garage. Kurt wouldn't be allowed to go back to the warehouse to check on Blaine, no matter how much he begged or pleaded.

Would he ever see him again?

It was a few months into his freedom when a blast from his past did appear.

"Santana?!"

"Kurt?!"

They nearly ran into one another in the hall of the school, both looking at one another wide eyed and in shock for a moment before they ducked into a gap between the lockers.

"How long have you been here?!"  
"Today's my first day… what about you?"  
"Four months. You just get out?"  
"Yeah, you?"  
"Yeah."  
"This is weird."  
"Very."

As it turned out, they shared about half of their classes, and Kurt tried not to flinch when Santana decided to sit by him for those classes. It was odd, having someone from that part of his life invading this part. He didn't fault her for it, on the contrary, now he hoped he'd have someone he could relate to outside of the walls of his service.

"So where did you end up?" He asked of her as they were released from their last class of the day.

"Fast-tracked." She said, a little too quietly, and Kurt registered that he needed to not ask anymore.

"I ended up at a warehouse doing freight after Anderson factory."

"Oh god… Anderson factory. I heard that place got shut down."

Kurt nodded as he looked ahead, "Yeah. Blaine ended up with me at the warehouse actually."

She made a small snicker, "Served him right. Little brat."

"He wasn't a bad kid Santana…"

"He was abusive…"

"That stopped after that first summer there Santana."

"Whatever."

Santana quickly became a close friend. He introduced her to his dad, and she introduced him to her grandmother that had taken custody of her since her parents were still in service. They ate lunch together, did their homework together, and complained about the idiocy of regular kids together.

"It's like they have no idea how good they have things…" Kurt mused aloud.

"They don't." Santana said, watching some girls across the cafeteria snapping at one another for checking out someone's boyfriend.

Kurt sighed, looking down at his salad. He loved fresh salad. All the prepackaged stuff at the warehouse had vegetables that had been overly processed and dried or mashed and so Kurt had quickly become addicted to fresh salads and vegetables. He wondered if Blaine was eating properly.

He wondered a lot about Blaine, even now, and it was frustrating to know that was all he could do.

The warehouse they had been working at turned out to be several hours away from Lima, where his dad had been working and they had an apartment at. A couple times they drove by the old house, looking at it sadly before driving to the cemetery where they now took care of Kurt's mom's gravesite the way it should have been taken care of for the past eight years. The trip to the city with the warehouse was never made though. Kurt thought about it on occasion - driving there, sneaking in, and checking in on Blaine, but he never had the guts he needed to do it. He didn't want to get in trouble, screw up his new free life with his dad.

He just had to hope that one day, he'd see Blaine again. Or at least not forget about him.

Courage.


	13. Chapter 13

"Oh my god princess! Give it to me!" Santana roared at Kurt as she snatched the white envelope he'd been staring at for the past minute from his hands, eliciting a yelp of protest from him before he eagerly awaited her opening it and telling him.

She tore the letter out and read it quietly to herself while he tried to read her eyes, anxiety building in his stomach like a rapidly expanding hot gas - ready to explode.

"You got it Kurt. You got it!" She squealed and wrapped her arms around him, prompting them to dancing and scream for joy in the center of the high school hallway. People kept walking around their little celebration, but did raise their eyebrows as they tried to figure out why the pair were so elated.

Six weeks ago to the day, Kurt had submitted a very large application to Kent State for their Prestique scholarship which would cover his tuition for the Fashion Design and Merchandising program for the entirely of his college life so long as he kept up his grade point average. Working at the Anderson Factory, and then the second hand shop had awakened an interest in fashion in Kurt that always had people complimenting the ensembles he put together. He was a pro at tailoring, and had completed every course in fashion the school had to offer. It wasn't the most economically safe route to go for a career, but he had spent a lot of time talking it over with his dad who ensured him that he should follow his heart and the money would follow. He just hoped his dad knew what he was talking about.

The week before, Santana had gotten her letter telling her that she'd been accepted into the Psychology program at Kent, which her grandmother had been saving up for as well. Santana didn't have a scholarship - at least not yet, but like Kurt, she had been working since she got out of service and saving all her extra money.

If there was one thing they learned about being in service, it was that frivolous spending was dangerous, and savings were what kept you safe.

Kurt's dad, for example, hadn't upgraded their living situation even though they both knew he could afford it with the raises his boss had given him over the past couple years. Kurt would be going to college anyhow, so upgrading to a bigger space when he didn't need a bigger space was silly. On top of that, they always clipped coupons, fixed up old clothes even though they were already second hand, and Burt had several different savings accounts set up with different banks - just in case.

Kurt had always given Burt his wages, insisting it be spent on food or necessities. He knew though that Burt had taken all that money he had given him over the past couple years and put it into a savings account for his college after finding a bank statement saying as much. His dad wanted to make sure Kurt never had to run into debt as an adult, and Kurt never planned to.

"Oh we have to celebrate Kurt. You can't tell me no." Santana said, wiping a tear from her eye as they calmed down and collected themselves.

"Well… I have tomorrow night off… we could grab some burgers or go see a movie I guess…."

She smirked and gave her head a shake. "Oh my dear little Kurt. We are not doing something so mundane. Here."

Santana shoved something into his hand and as Kurt looked down at the little card his eyes went wide, "A fake ID? What the… Santana?"

He got a chuckle out of her for his response. "We're going to the new club. Sinful. I hear it's fabulous."

"I can't… Santana…" He hissed, lowering his voice as he glowered towards her, "This is illegal."

"Pick you up at nine!"

She spun in place and he groaned, looking down at the picture she probably took when he wasn't paying attention. The height, weight, and date of birth were so horribly off that no one would dare think it was real. Plus his name, according to the ID, was Senor Frog. Really? He hoped she didn't pay good money for this.

He tucked it into his pocket and sighed, making his way out of the school and to work. He had worked really hard, in school and out of it, to make sure he didn't screw up, get sick, or do anything else to compromise the life he and his dad had built. They were doing so well. Two bachelor's, no debts, applauded for their work, and content to hang out with one another for the most part.

Sure, Kurt had Santana, but he mainly spent time with his dad. On occasion, he and Santana would notice a new kid that was a little too cautious and a little too out of place, and decide together that that kid was probably a Dent, or was anyhow. They'd never ask though, never approach the new kid, because that meant exposing themselves as past Dent's. Older and wiser now, they knew that you didn't reveal yourself as one of them, even if it was in your past and you weren't particularly ashamed of it. You just didn't risk it. People only had negative things to say about them out in public, never anything good, and both Kurt and Santana didn't want the drama they knew they'd get if they exposed that truth about themselves.

They were a power couple now. Most people assumed they were an item since they were always together, even though they both knew that the other preferred the same sex. That kept them safe too though. No one could harass them for being Dents or for being gay, and because both of them both were known throughout the school as 'no-nonsense' types, they never got anything less than respect. Santana had been senior class president this year, and Kurt had been her vice president. Kurt had been the kicker for the football team during it's state win and Santana had been on the sidelines cheering him on in her cheerleader uniform. They had even attended prom together and won Prom King and Queen.

No one had ever suspected they had ever been anything less than royalty in this school.

The next day came and went, and as nine approached, Kurt fiddled with his tie, looking himself over in the mirror of the bathroom and sighing. He reasoned he could do this. He had been good for the past two years, better than good actually. He deserved a night of celebration - even if it was Santana style and certainly sketchy sounding.

Sinful was exactly as it sounded. A big black box of a building with flashing pink neon lights advertising the name along with a little busty demon woman in an almost not there outfit. Santana pulled Kurt in, the bouncers barely even looking at the ID's much to Kurt's amazement, and ordered him something that definitely did not sound like his stomach would be forgiving him come morning.

"Bottom's up babe!" She said, clinking the tiny glass she held to his own and drinking the little drink down in one sip. He followed suite and gagged a little at the sour and too sweet concoction that was coursing down his insides, Santana laughing openly at him.

They danced, gyrating on the floor with a mass of other people, laughing and spinning, and drinking periodically to keep up the happy tingle in their extremities that seemed to make everything else seem extra great in that moment.

"Come on! I want to buy you a present to celebrate your awesomeness!" Santana cooed, pulling Kurt towards a back room and stuffing some cash at another bouncer who counted it and handed her two small chips.

"Oh god Santana! What the hell?!" Kurt gasped as he found himself in a dark hallway with numbered doors.

They were approached by an older woman who looked at Santana with sheer unamusement, "The usual for you miss?"

"You betcha babe!" Santana said with a hiccup to accent her current state and then giggled, "And give my friend here the hottest guy you have!"

"Santana!" Kurt hissed, suddenly realizing what was happening, or at least he thought he did. "What on earth are you -"

"Shhh princess. Just a private lap dance. Work off your stress." She insisted, handing the matron the two chips and then skipping happily to the room the woman pointed at you.

"Any preferences?" The woman asked of a very red cheeked Kurt when they were left alone.

"Ah… er…." In truth, the last thing Kurt had thought about the past couple years was guys. Everytime he tried to take care of himself in the morning when awoken by his own alert member he only ever thought of Blaine and that saddened him to the point of not needing to take care of anything. "Dark hair? Curls maybe? Olive skin?"

Blaine still haunted him, even now.

"Oh I have just the one for you guy. That room." She pointed and walked away, leaving Kurt fidgeting in spot for a moment, wondering if he should really do this until the alcohol told him that he definitely should and led him into the small, dimly lit, room with a single chair at the side and a pole in the center. Awkwardly, Kurt sat himself down, wringing his hands and looking around in anticipation.

The door opened after a moment, a sultry voice cooing to him, "Hey there… heard you need some taking care of…. Kurt?!"

Oh the matron wasn't lying when she said she had just the guy for Kurt, because right there, in front of him was Blaine. Older, barely dressed, and clearly in shock, but definitely Blaine - dark hair, curls, and olive skin.

Kurt could barely find his breath.


	14. Chapter 14

"Blaine!"  
"Kurt!"

Then silence as their eyes grew wide and they looked each other over. Blaine was nearly naked save for a pair of black leather, short shorts held up with a pair of black suspenders and nothing else but a pair of black shoes. Kurt on the other hand had worn his very best pieces that evening - tan slacks over his favourite boots, a white button up, and a grey suit jacket - all wonderfully accented by a simple purple skinny tie. He quickly felt overdressed.

"You're alive."  
"You're free."

Those next spoken words also came at the same time, followed by a brief moment of silence before the boys leap into each other's arms and began madly babbling to one another.

"I didn't know what happened to you. I just woke up in a hospital and when I got back to the warehouse they told me you had been taken away by officers and I thought you had been demoted for getting me help…"  
"I worried about you for so long. I wasn't sure if you were okay after they took me away and they don't let you back in once you're out to check…"

"Oh god…. oh…." Blaine smiled softly and stepped back to look once more over Kurt. "You're free though… you were freed then?"

Kurt smiled back and nodded, "Yeah… two years now… and ah… you're…" He choked. He didn't want to assume it, even though it was painfully obvious.

"Fast-tracking… yeah." Blaine said quietly, clearly ashamed by his own admission. "So… uh… you wanted a lap dance… 'cause I can find someone else who -"

"No!" Kurt yelled and reached to grab Blaine's wrist as the curly haired boy tried to turn to the door. "No Blaine…. My friend… she tricked me into this room. I swear. I had no idea…" He stopped, caught his breath, and offered Blaine the best grin he could muster. "... Can we just… catch up? Is that okay? Would you get in trouble for that?"

Blaine reflected the grin and shook his head, "No. No camera's in here. Just a half hour timer…" He shook his head, looking Kurt up and down one more time, "Wow.. you're here… free.. I can't believe it…"

Kurt looked around. There was only one chair, and he sure as heck wasn't going to assume to sit in it. He sat on the floor then, patting the space aside him for Blaine who quickly sat himself down and then grimaced. "God… just a second… this is awkward…."

Blaine reached into his small, too-tight pants that seemed to be overly revealing of his attributes, and Kurt blushed, averting his eyes before Blaine chuckled, "No… not… ergh… here…"

Kurt looked back as Blaine fished out what was causing the insane bump in his shorts - a sock, from which he shook out an unripe banana. Kurt looked at it with wide up, then back up at Blaine's face, and both of them burst out in laughter that had them in tears before long.

"A socked banana? Really?" Kurt finally managed to choke out, wiping the tears away from the corners of his eyes.

"Oh yeah… the other guy told me… it's ridiculous I know…. but it makes a guy look hard without looking too fake…" Blaine let the last of his laughs wheeze out as he rested his head back against the wall. "The old ladies and guys who usually ask young guys for dances though… they like to think though that they arouse us… so…"

"You put a banana in a sock and shove it into your pants. Got it."

They laughed again, until Kurt's stomach felt like pins were going through it from the cramping of the effort and he reached over to pat Blaine on the shoulder, "Why?"

"Why'd I fast-track?"

"Yeah."

Blaine squirmed beside Kurt a little and turned his body towards him, "After I got back to the warehouse.. I was just… I was lonely without you there and I knew I couldn't wait until I was nineteen to figure out what had happened… so I decided to fast-track. I asked about the medical or drug testing first… but the guy who interviewed me said that I met the profile for sex trade and that guys were rarely accepted into that field so I should consider it…"

Kurt swallowed stiffly then, "Do you.. do you have to…?"

Blaine shook his head, "No… actually.. this isn't so bad. I just dance and there's that policy…" He pointed up to a sign on the wall that Kurt actually hadn't noticed until now that read 'Look but don't touch', "... the bosses here stick to that policy pretty strong. If anyone gets grabby we just let them know and the bosses don't let that person in again."

"And has anyone gotten grabby with you…?"

Blaine sighed, "Kurt… can we… we only have so long on a token. Tell me about your life."

Kurt winced a little. Blaine could only be redirecting him because he didn't want to discuss the nasty details of what he did, but Kurt acquiesced, telling Blaine all about school, his scholarship, work, his dad, and reuniting with Santana.

"She a darker girl? Long dark hair? Sassy?" Blaine asked, left brow perking up.

Kurt nodded, "Yeah. I get the feeling she's been here before…."

Blaine chuckled, "Yeah. You could say that. She's a regular of Brittany's."

"She another dancer?"

Blaine nodded, "Yeah. Nice girl. Friend of mine."

"I'm glad you have someone to be your friend here…" Kurt trailed off, not quite sure where he was going with that particular thought as he looked at those amber eyes, recalling how throughout the years he had always managed to get lost in them and still couldn't figure out how to find his way out of them."

"I missed you." Blaine uttered quietly, eyes falling from meeting Kurt's eyes and looking towards his lips.

"Before… before I was freed… you said some stuff." Kurt stuttered, watching how Blaine's eyes went from amber to black.

"I remember. I thought I was dying… I wanted to say everything I needed to in case I did."

"Oh."

Kurt watched as Blaine's lips moved to his own and with a small, last minute intake of breath, Kurt met him for the last centimeter of space left between them. This was nothing like Karofsky. This was sweetness, and pureness, and absolute perfection. When their lips fell apart, their eyes reconnected and despite what he wore or what he we doing now to work, Blaine blushed right through his olive skin and let his eyes dart bashfully to the side, "I ah… "

"Yeah." Kurt agreed, though to what he was agreeing to more than just Blaine's post-kiss lack of words was indiscernible. "Please tell me you don't have long left in service…"

"A couple more months maybe?" Blaine murmured before surging forward again, recapturing Kurt's lips and letting the room be filled by the sounds of occasional smacking as they found several new angles to connect their lips to as they spent a few minutes making out in the small, uniquely scented room.

"And then…?" Kurt asked, gasping for air.

"Then I think my older brother will end up with custody of me…" Blaine muttered, pulling his head back and reaching over to trace Kurt's jaw line gently. "... Cooper. Unless something's happened to him or things have changed… I wish I knew…"

Kurt leaned into Blaine's touch. Why had touching never felt this good before? "You have to… you have to look me up when you're out…"

"That was always my plan."

"Really? Even now?"

"Especially now."

A buzzer went off above their heads and Blaine groaned, leaning his head against Kurt's, "I will find you."

Kurt frowned at the noise above, wishing it would just shut off or die or something. "You'd better. Kurt Hummel… I'll be at Kent State in the fall and I'm living here in Lima right now. You can remember all that?"

Blaine nodded against him, the curls bouncing as his head moved, "Yeah."

There was a knock on the door and Blaine jumped to his feet. "Just finishing up!"

"Don't forget your… ah… banana in a sock." Kurt chuckled, pointing to the discarded item on the floor.

Blaine grabbed it hastily and once again blushed. "God… I'm never going to live this down."

"Never."

There was one last kiss, much too short for Kurt's liking, and then they both exited, facing the stern look of the matron who pointed Blaine one way and Kurt the other.

"So princess, everything you thought it would be?" Santana asked as she met him outside the door.

"And more." He admitted, noting that his friend was looking just as disheveled as he felt.

"Well happy fucking birthday… or whatever it is that we came here for." She hiccuped and led him out where she waved at one of the waiting taxis.

Kurt looked back though, looking at that neon lit demon woman and grinning. Maybe it was the alcohol surging through him still, or the adrenaline, or the throbbing ache in the front of his pants, but tonight, he decided, was the best night ever.


	15. Chapter 15

After collapsing happily on his bed for the night, after suffering through a hangover the next morning, and after admitting to his dad that he didn't just have a sleepover at Santana's but instead ran into THE Blaine Anderson he had told his dad all about after being freed did Kurt stop to think about what had occurred the night before.

His sober, rational mind had questions.

For starters, was what happened real last night? Did he dream it? Or was it just a very lucid fantasy fueled by alcohol?

No… it was definitely real. Between the red rash around his mouth where Blaine's stubble had roughed against him during their kissing and the text from Santana asking if his lap dance was as good as hers, there was no denying it.

The next question he had for himself was: If last night was as accurate as he remembered, why the hell did he leave Blaine behind there only to dance around a pole for strangers? What kind of idiot was he that he abandoned Blaine to that?

"He made his choice son… granted… I don't think it was a great one, especially thinking about how it's going to make him feel about himself, but it was his to make and he has to stick with it now." Burt said when Kurt vocalized his concern.

That made Kurt sigh and nod slowly. Didn't make it any easier to know that Blaine, his Blaine as far as he was concerned, was putting himself on show for other guys… and girls apparently too. At least Kurt knew that all they'd get out of him was a bulge created by a banana in a sock.

"Besides, from what I hear, pole dancing isn't the worst thing that he could have gotten mixed up in." Burt added on, less than helpfully.

It reminded Kurt of the lost conversation track where he asked Blaine about customers being grabby and was redirected. Blaine shouldn't have to suffer that, especially since it was his parents who screwed up the family finances and not him.

"And son?"

Kurt looked to his dad.

"You're going to give me that fake ID now. Soulmate or whatever you want to call that boy, you're not engaging in any more illegal activities under my watch, and I know you. You're probably already thinking of dipping into your savings to go visit him again there." Burt held out his hand.

Kurt gave the fake ID to his dad before he could hesitate. It was true. He was already trying to mentally calculate how many visits he could manage on his savings. How did Santana manage to pay for it all? God… was she really even an ex-Dent if she was that frivolous with her money? Or was Brittany really just that special?

"How am I supposed to wait dad?"

Burt shook his head, "It's only a few more months son… you've waited two years just to find out if he was alive… you can wait a few months to see him again now that you know he is."

"It already hurts though." He said weakly, heart feeling like it was straining to reach something it couldn't even see.

Kurt got a pat on the back from his dad. "And you'll survive it even if right now it feels like you won't. You two keep stumbling into one another like you have been so far in life, this little bump will be nothing in the end."

"I hope you're right."

Sleeping became difficult, and he did his best to avoid Sinful, although he sometimes purposely took an extra long bus route full of transfers just so he could drive by it. He knew he'd never see Blaine from the outside, but something was comforting about knowing Blaine was in there.

Graduation came and went, his dad cheering him on as he walked across the stage and received his diploma, a little common and the word Citizen after the typewritten name of Kurt Hummel indicating he graduated as a normal person. Apparently Dents who were in the system until they were nineteen got different certificates that indicated they graduated while in service. In fact, as Kurt filled in forms for university and housing, he noticed that everything asked for proof of citizenship. Apparently Dents running away and trying to get access to services was an issue enough they needed it.

At his graduation ceremony, he noticed a few empty seats in the crowd and imagined that Blaine was there, cheering him on as well. How long was a few months anyhow? Two? Four? Six?

He wished he never gave his dad the ID.

After graduation, the summer. He worked as much as he could so he could fill his savings account to make the school year easier, and then spent the last couple weeks of summer moving into the dorms at Kent and looking for a new part time job. Kurt eventually found flexible part-time work at a coffee shop on campus, and Santana got a job at a music store in town. She tried to convince him several times over the summer to return to Sinful with him but he finally admitted that his dad had confiscated the ID and got a tongue lashing response.

Orientation came and went, and Kurt soon found himself neck deep in assignments and work and required readings and floor meetings and daily coffee with Santana.

Four months came and went that way.

Then five.

Then six…

Then Kurt called his dad and pleaded for him to see if Blaine was still at Sinful.

"Son. You do realize you're asking your old man to go to a place frequented by young kids and ask for a lapdance from a guy my son is clearly infatuated with right?"

"Please dad. Please. I need to know…"

Then the call came in a couple nights later.

"He's not there anymore Kurt."

"What do you mean? Did you use the description I gave you?"

"Well.. yes… except for the part about 'pools of amber eyes that resemble chocolate melted over the eye of a kiwi….' I just said brown."

"He has to be there dad! He has to!"

"The lady in charge says they have two guys. One is a tall blonde and the other is of some asian descent. No-one that matches your description of "sun-dusted skin like the Greeks". Honestly son. I think you did this just to embarrass me."

"I was trying to be accurate."

"Well he's not there. At least not anymore."

"Where is he then? Why hasn't he called me?"

"I can't answer that kiddo. All I can tell you is that you need to focus on what's in front of you… school, work, friends, family…."

Kurt sighed, glancing over at the sketch he drew of Blaine from his memory he had hanging in front of his desk. "Thanks dad… I mean it… you didn't have to go to such great lengths… but I appreciate it."

"Honestly I'm a little relieved. Would have made for an awkward conversation if he had been there."

"Dad…" Kurt whined softly.

"Yeah, yeah… I know son. I get it. But do me a favour and tough it out. Maybe he just got out or something? Maybe he's still trying to figure out things on the outside? Remember how confused you were about phones for the first while?"

Kurt chuckled at the memory. He had been too young to really use phones when he had been taken away and when he was freed he had a number of issues using them - either talking into them upside down, having issues with buttons, or remembering that the hyphen used in writing down phone numbers wasn't actually something that needed to be looked for and pushed to dial a number. "Yeah… maybe you're right."

"I hope so. Don't let it distract you from your studies though son."

"If anything it makes me more focused dad. I need the distraction."

"Alright son. Love you. Call me again soon."

"Love you too. Bye."

Kurt held the phone in his hands for awhile after that, rotating it in the palms of his hands and thinking. Had he read too much into that make-out session? Did his drunken mind concoct more to that night then there actually had been? Was his dad right?

He looked up at the drawing of Blaine once more and sighed, pressing two fingers to his own lips and then pressing them to the drawing's lips. "Good night Blaine…"

The answers would have to wait.


	16. Chapter 16

Thanksgiving passed, then Christmas, then New Years… and still no word from Blaine. As Valentine's day drew close, Kurt decided that enough was enough and started doing online searches for Cooper Anderson - Blaine's elder brother.

Cooper, it turned out, was easier to find than Kurt anticipated. The first name to pop up was one Cooper Anderson of Los Angeles, California with enough acting credits to his name to have a wealth of images that allowed Kurt to easily see that not only was he Blaine's older brother, but that he was a definite younger version of boss Anderson from back at the factory.

Getting ahold of Cooper though, was not as easy.

Phone calls were filtered through an agent, who didn't buy Kurt's plea that he was a friend of Blaine trying to see if Cooper knew anything about where he was or what had happened to him. Apparently Cooper had quite a lot of fans - male and female, always trying to find a way to connect with the actor one-on-one and Kurt's call was just seen as a ruse to try and connect to Cooper.

So he tried email, which bounced back on him as undeliverable.

Finally, and begrudgingly, Kurt decided to mail Cooper the old fashioned way, hoping that a real letter might actually reach him. He explained his history with Blaine, where he had last seen him, and how he hoped Cooper knew more so that Kurt could reach him. Kurt had never used more 'pleases' in his life than he did in that letter.

Then the waiting game began.

One day, two days. One week, two weeks.

He was seriously considering spending some money on a train ticket to Los Angelous when he got a call from an unknown number on his phone one afternoon.

"Hello!"

"Hello? Is this a Mr. Kurt Hummel?"

"Yes…"

"My name is Cooper Anderson… I got a letter from you and -"

Once Kurt heard the name, his mouth fired before his brain had time to think about about it.

"Oh my god! Do you know where Blaine is? Is he okay? What happened to him? Does he not want to talk to me? Is he alright? Did I already ask that?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa champ. Calm down."

"Yeah… yeah… sorry…"

"Look. I got a letter some months ago given me two months notice that I would be given guardianship of my brother when he was scheduled to be freed, then I get a letter a month after that saying that due to a transfer, Blaine was not going to be freed as per the last letter and they would let me know if anything changed. That was the last I heard."

"What? But he fast tracked! They can't go backwards! Oh my god… was he demoted?!"

"Fast-tracked? Demoted? What?"

Sometimes, Kurt forgot that people who had never been in the service system didn't know the lingo. Promoted, demoted, fast-tracked, write-off…. they were all foreign to people who hadn't lived as a Dent. Normal society was only ever aware that indentured servants served time for debts owed and didn't bother learning the ins and outs of the system they hoped they would never suffer through.

"He took a less desirable job because it paid more… the dancing job I told you about in the letter… it was… uh… exotic style dancing… but it meant he could get out of the system before he was nineteen."

In the letter, Kurt had left out the specifics of the type of trade Blaine was involved in to spare Cooper any additional stress it may have caused him…. plus Kurt found he couldn't write out the words without blushing anyhow.

"Oh wow… good on my little brother I guess."

"Wait, what?"

"Well he's got to have the Anderson male genetic advantage if he's working a pole right? Good for him."

Kurt cleared his throat and pulled loose the tie around his neck as the flush went up his body and into his cheeks. To say that Blaine had attractive genes was an understatement, and not something he expected to be talking about with Blaine's older brother.

"And… the only way he would have had to spend longer in service after fast-tracking like that, that I know of anyhow, would be if he did something wrong and was demoted to a lesser paying position."

"Dents don't get paid…."

"You're right… in theory. The wages we would've earned in that position go towards paying off our debts. Demoted means you're in a position that won't pay the debt down as quickly."

"Oh… so… where would he have gone?"

Kurt sighed, realizing then that Cooper was not the help he had been hoping for, "He could have gone anywhere… Dents work everywhere that there's a job where the regular population doesn't have to see them…"

"Well maybe my parents know. I'll ask them I guess."

"Wait… what? Your parents? They should be in service still…."

"Oh no. They were released uh… few months ago. They moved to Chicago to try and rebuild the family honor or whatever. I was never really into that scene…"

Kurt's mouth suddenly went dry. If Blaine's parents were freed about the same time that "circumstances changed" according to Cooper's letter, and Blaine wasn't freed along with them there was only one thing Kurt could think of that had happened.

"Oh my god…." Kurt whined softly, his grip on the phone loosening until it slid from his hand and fell to the ground with a thud just as his body trembled. From the floor he could here Cooper's faint voice calling out but Kurt couldn't bring himself to stoop down to pick up the phone.

Had Blaine been "written off"?

* * *

It was Santana who found him, hours later, curled up under the covers of his dorm room and clutching his pillow with a death grip. She thought he was sick at first, but upon inspecting the bathroom and the bedroom and declaring it too immaculate to be that of a sick person, sat on the edge of the bed and set a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on princess. Tell Auntie Snix what's wrong."

"He's dead…."

Her brow bunched up as she regarded him quietly, "Who? Who died? Is it your dad?"

Kurt slowly shook his head, forcing himself to take a shuddering breath and force the idea out of his mind of his dad being dead on top of things. "No. Blaine."

"Blaine? Blaine who?"

"Anderson…."

"Blaine Anderson? That snotty little brat from the factory?"

"He… wasn't…"

"Oooh-kay princess…" She reached up to stroke her extra long nails through his hair, "Take a breath and tell me just what the hell is going on."

So he did. He told her more than he'd ever told her before. About his summer's with Blaine, how he didn't tell the rest of them because he didn't want them to be jealous, about how he reunited with Blaine at the warehouse, about Blaine getting sick and Kurt being freed, and about how the lap dance she bought him brought them back together… and how now he had to be dead because there was no way his parents were alive and free without that happening.

"Oh honey…." She pulled him into her arms when he had managed to choke it all out and then allowed him to sob against her breasts, and god, how did people find breasts attractive? They were so lumpy and malleable and…. so much like pillows….

When he awoke a few hours later after sobbing his eyes dry, he was still cushioned on her breasts. Santana had one arm around him and the other held out her phone which she was surfing the web on.

"'tana?"

"Mmm… thank god you're awake. Thought I'd make you straight yet the way you've been attached to those babies of mine."

"He's dead 'tana…." Kurt whined softly as he remembered how he had ended up there.

"Maybe, maybe not. I've been doing some research."

"What if someone raped him and killed him in that little room? God… what if he was mugged? What if another -"

Kurt was silenced by one of Santana's fingers pulling away from around his shoulder and being snapped to his lips. "Hush you. Listen to this…"

She read off whatever website she was visiting, Kurt listening with all too hopeful and attentive ears.

"Indentured servants have been known to change their posted date of freedom by what is called "fast tracking", yada, yada… Service dates can be extended as well. The main source of service extension is by demotion, as referenced in cases like… blah… blah… however, some indentured servants choose to extend their stay in service, such as in the case of one child agreeing to work for a longer period of time so a sibling does not have to or may be freed…."

"You think he agreed to stay in service so his parents could go free?" Kurt murmured, still resting heavily against Santana's chest.

"Well it's a thought. We'd have to ask his parents I guess… see if they know anything. Lord and Lady Anderson hey? Would love to see her again… maybe piss on her too tall heels…. She was never happy about anything or anyone…"

"Sounds like someone I know and love…"

His hair was ruffled and she chuckled, "That's my boy. Come on. Since you missed all your Friday classes to mope it's now the weekend. Let's road trip to Chicago."

"Really?"

Santana laughed, "Yeah. Didn't you hear what I said about peeing on her heels?"


	17. Chapter 17

"Is it that house? That house? What about that house?"

"Oh my god princess. Cool your jets you twitchy little squirrel. We're almost there." Santana snapped as Kurt craned his neck out to look at the addresses on the houses they were passing. They had found an address on the internet and were now in the depths of Chicago, about to go face to face with their past employers - or so Kurt hoped. He had to find out what had happened with Blaine. He just had to. "What on earth kind of sex did you have with this guy to make you so freaking insane about him anyhow?"

"Ah.. well… actually…."

"Oh my fucking god! You didn't even have sex with him and you're ready to track him to the ends of the earth!" She turned her head towards him as she rioted, making Kurt panic a little as that meant her eyes were off the road and on him.

"Residential street! There could be children or puppies!"

"Honestly Kurt…. how can you know if he's worth it if you haven't even tested out his abilities?" She huffed, looking back to the street much to Kurt's relief.

"He's worth it Santana…"

""But… how… wait… are you telling me you're still a virgin Hummel?"

"You make it sound horrible."

"God. No wonder you're such a sap."

He was about to form a retort but Santana pulled sharply to the side of the road and announced they were at their destination before Kurt could even think of anything remotely witty.

How on earth did Blaine's parents go from service to a house like this? His dad has been so happy to get a one bedroom apartment and in front of him was a huge two storey house.

Santana, as usual, walked like she was on a mission and Kurt had to rush to keep up with her. She rang the doorbell without hesitation and flipped her hair back over her shoulders as they waited.

"Can I help you?" was their greeting as the door was pulled open and Kurt sucked in a breath as he saw boss Anderson - greyer and more aged, but ever the statue of entitlement before him.

"Hey Boss. Long time no see. Remember me? Probably don't. We remember you though. More importantly, we remember your son." Santana didn't allow pause between her statements, instead watching with what Kurt was sure was amusement as Blaine's father's brows steadily lifted off his eyes and went skyward as he regarded the mouthy woman.

"Darling? Who's there?" Another female voice spoke up behind Blaine's dad, and Mrs. Anderson emerged, looking as smug as ever. Clearly service hadn't humbled her any.

"Workers from our factory in Westerville dear…. asking on about Cooper." Blaine's dad said slowly.

"No. Blaine actually. Where is he?" Kurt snapped up, looking at Mr. Anderson intently.

Blaine's dad locked eyes with his and he stared for a moment before recognition overcame him. "Kurt. You're Kurt."

"Yes. What happened to Blaine?"

"Oh my goodness. Is this what this all is about?" Blaine's mother tutted, waving a dismissive hand. "He's still in service and will be until he's nineteen."

"No. He was supposed to be out months ago. He even fast tracked to make sure of it. Something changed and now you're out and he's not."

"How do you know that?" Blaine's dad asked then, brows narrowing.

"I saw him. He was going to get out, live with Cooper, and get ahold of me… I even spoke to Cooper about it. He said he got a letter letting him know Blaine was getting out and then a second letter saying that had changed and you guys were out now." Kurt snapped. God, how had these people ruled over him for four years?

"We don't need to tell you anything -" Blaine's father started with a threateningly low tone before his mother cut in.

"Honestly. What is the issue? We had a friend who wanted us to help us with a business venture. He paid for us to get out so we could help with the pretense that Blaine work for him until he was nineteen."

"You… you sold out your own son for your convenience?" Kurt choked out, scarcely believing what he was hearing.

"It was an excellent opportunity… and Blaine had to sign off his agreement on it too - which he did, wherever he was at the time. Good boy that one." His mother said with another dismissive wave of her hand.

"He was working at a nightclub… giving lap dances to strangers for your information." Kurt snapped, earning a wince from Mr. Anderson and a look of disgust from the Mrs. "He wanted to get out before he was nineteen to earn a real high school diploma and get into college… you…"

"You are disgusting rats." Santana finished up for him as she looked up and down Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. "You're standing there looking grossed out by what he had to do but what you did to him… that's completely unforgivable."

"You know nothing of our sacrifice. How dare you!" Mrs. Anderson said, a scowl coming over her face like a familiar mask.

"What sacrifice?! You ignored your son for months at a time when you had the factories and then screwed everything up and he went into service for things that were YOUR fault and now he's paying for you to be free!" Kurt was done. He had no remorse left for these people.

"My goodness!" Mrs. Anderson gasped, putting a hand to her breast, "This is why you never should have let him associate with Dents dear.. look at this… terrible, terrible -"

"Oh please lady. You were indentured too - and for your own damned stupidity and not your parents dumbass choices. Now if you'll excuse me…" Santana pushed her way between the Anderson's despite their shock, "... I need to use your bathroom before I wet myself on your step."

"The audacity!" Mrs. Anderson cried as she watched Santana shove past and into the house, looking then to her husband. "Do something!"

The man sighed though, dropping his head into the open palm of his hand. "We already did dear… and we're paying for it now… we should have never signed those paper. I've felt guilty about it since my pen left the page…"

Kurt nodded quickly, trying to show the older looking version of Cooper how right he was about feeling that way, but Blaine's mother was clearly undaunted.

"That's insane. It was a good deal for everyone and when Blaine returns he won't have to work his way up as much. We'll make sure he's living a comfortable life again."

"Blaine never wanted a comfortable life! Not on your terms!" Kurt argued, "He wanted a mother that wanted him enough to be home and a father who set aside work to spend time with him. He just wanted, and always has wanted, to be loved by you!"

"Pish-posh. Of course we love him. That's why we make these sacrifices." She again said dismissively.

"He's the one who's sacrificing though…." Kurt said sadly, finally seeing in her a lack of concern and change. It wasn't getting through to her, and even though what he was saying might have had an effect on Mr. Anderson, the man was far too whipped by his wife to speak up against her.

"All done." Santana said, pushing her way through the older pair and stepping back alongside Kurt. "We done here Kurt? Killed enough brain cells?"

Kurt looked between them, made a quick nod, and turned, walking alongside Santana and back to the car.

"What did you do?"

"Let's just say when they go to bed tonight they'll find a not-so-little present from me on their bed."

Kurt gagged a little as she started the car and began driving. "God Santana… I don't know whether to kiss you or vomit."

"Neither… let's go back home."


	18. Chapter 18

"I can't believe I didn't ask who the friend was that they sold him to… god… I was just so angry…" Kurt admitted, elbow bent against the window edge of the car and head propped up on his hand as he went through what had just happened in his mind.

"You had every right to be. Hell… I was right about to smack the both of them." Santana chipped in as she drove.

"Yeah… well… you went to the bathroom in their bed."

She chuckled aside him. "Yes I did, didn't I? Good one too. Solid consistency and everything."

He gagged. "God Santana!"

"But I didn't just do that."

He blinked and looked over to her where she was driving with a large smirk plastered over her face. "What else did you do?"

"Check my purse."

Kurt reached into the backseat and brought her large purse into his lap, opening it up and rifling through it. "Are these… did you steal their mail?"

"Not all of it. Just the pay stubs."

He looked at it for a moment, "Smythe Industries… Santana… have I told you lately that I love you?"

"If you break out into song over some stolen pay stubs I swear to whatever god or gods there are that I will smack you back into service."

"So.. you think if we contact this company….?"

"Way ahead of you princess. GPS is set for the home address of Sebastian Smythe Sr. - the owner of the company. He lives in what looks like a manor according Google Earth just south of Chicago."

The drive was torturous - mostly because Kurt was even less sure of what to expect this time around. Would Blaine even be there? What was he working on there? Why did they want him specifically? How could his parents do that?...

"Don't think too hard princess." Santana said over to his after a long bout of quiet.

"I just… I'm trying to understand…."

She shook her head, "Don't. You and I, we don't think like those people do. Trying to figure them out is pointless. Their way of doing things is too foreign to us."

"I guess… but Blaine… he doesn't think like his parents…"

"Maybe because of you princess… maybe because we're not all meant to take after our parents either. I'm not a gambling addict or a doctor after all."

"You still visit Brittany?"

The name made Santana clam up for a moment and then she came out with a whispered reply, "Blaine told you?"

"Yeah."

"She got out… went to go live with her family. We talk on the phone now and then…"

"But you miss her."

"Yeah. I do."

"Why don't you tell her that?"

Santana shook her head again, "Isn't this your mission? Aren't we working on finding your lap dancer?"

Kurt sat up and reached over to set a hand on Santana's shoulder, "Why don't you…?"

"My grandma is openly hostile towards people like us Kurt…. if I was open about who I was… I'd have no one left."

"You'd always have me… and you'd have Brittany too."

"You don't know that."

Kurt sighed and looked back out the window, "You're right. I don't… I just… have to believe in something and true love seems as good as anything."

"You think you love Blaine?"

"Well I don't know how else to explain what I do feel towards him. It's definitely something stronger than I could ever describe with a lesser word."

She snorted, "Romantic sap."

He smiled to himself. It was certainly true what she said, insomuch as Kurt couldn't imagine anyone else romantically aside from Blaine. Not even when he wasn't sure what had happened to him after the warehouse. Blaine was stuck in him, and he didn't know how to get him out - nor did he want to.

The drove up to the manor, both sucking in breaths as they looked it over. The place was massive, and even had a gate with an electronic buzzer at the front. Before pressing the button on the console though, they both peaked in.

"God Santana… I don't even know what to say…"

"Just… be honest?"

"But would it even make a difference?"

"You telling me you want to go?"

"No…"

"Then shut up and let's see if we can get in."

Santana reached over from her seat to press the keypad when a voice came through the console prempting her button pushing.

"Kurt….?"

He didn't need any guesses to know that voice, and in an instant he was crawling across the car, over Santana, who grumbled in complaint, as he went to speak.

"Blaine?! Is that you?"

"Yeah… why are you here Kurt?"

"For you! You never called me so I called Cooper and then went to see your folks and -"

"They're free?"

"Yeah… yeah… because of you but -"

He was cut off by a sigh on the other end and then Blaine spoke up again, "Kurt you have to leave."

"What? No! I just found you!"

"You have to go Kurt. It was lucky enough that I saw who was driving up and no one else was looking, but they'll notice, and they won't like it."

"But Blaine -"

"Go Kurt. You can't be here."

"But what about -"

"GO!"

Kurt kneaded his lower lip between his teeth for a moment and then whispered, "But I just found you…"

Another sigh came through, "I know… please Kurt. You have to go. Go and forget about me. If you don't go, I'll let them know and they'll just call the cops."

"But -"

"Oh for Christ's sake." Santana snapped, having enough of Kurt in her lap pleading with a voice on a console. "Blaine, the boy has been through hell looking for you."

"I'm sorry…. I'm sorry… but… he needs to go. Santana right? Brittany's friend? Please. Take him home. He can't be here."

She looked at Kurt as the tears welled up in his eyes and he mouthed the words 'please' over and over towards the console and to Santana. "Why Blaine?"

"I'm in service. He can't see me. He's better off without me anyhow. Take him home. Just… take him home please."

The last please may as well been 'dammit' for all the force behind it. Santana sighed and pulled the clutch back to reverse the vehicle.

"Wait! Santana!"

"You heard him Kurt. We're not going to get in and he'll call the cops on us anyhow…"

"No… but…. Blaine…." he choked.

The console got smaller in his view as Santana backed out and turned back onto the main road, managing to shove Kurt back into his own seat somehow in the process. He whined softly, wrapping his arms around his torso, and hiding his head in his knees as she drove back towards Ohio without a word. Periodically he'd feel her reach over and rub his back, but that was it.

They had found Blaine, but Blaine didn't want to be found apparently, and Kurt's mission had been all for nothing.

"Come on sweetie. Once we get back I'll take you to the bar where you can drink your emotions down until they drown."

It was a small offer on Santana's part, but one Kurt knew he'd take her up on. If Blaine didn't want to be found as a Dent, there was nothing Kurt could do about it. He just felt like the world was conspiring against him. He had gotten so close that he had been able to hear Blaine's voice… and then… nothing.


	19. Chapter 19

"I assume you're going back to Lima after the break?" Santana quizzed Kurt, looking over at him from over the top of the book she was otherwise buried in as they studied.

"Yeah… I mean… not for the whole time. I have work here… and Adam…" He blushed softly as he admitted it, thankful he had his own book blocking Santana's view of his cheeks.

It had been well over a year since he and Santana had made the journey to Chicago. He had required intensive intervention on Santana's behalf to not run back to where Blaine was and try to break him free, but, eventually, Kurt realized he couldn't save Blaine - especially if Blaine didn't want saving as was obviously the case from that little back-and-forth over the console. He let his heart go numb, letting Blaine fade from its memory, and in the past couple months had even begun dating a senior named Adam.

"Right." Santana snorted from behind her books. "Adam. What date are you on?"

"Seven." Kurt said with a light, sing-songy tone.

"And seven means what according to your ridiculous list?"

Prior to agreeing to date anyone, Kurt had checked out dating websites and even consulted his own dad on what the normal progression was for a relationship. He didn't want anyone to see him as some floozy like a couple of the guys in the fashion program had come to be known as, and he also didn't want to be seen as frigid - though his dad was quick to assure him there was nothing wrong with that either.

"Seven means he can use tongue when he kisses me." Kurt hummed, knees bumping together under the table as he felt a rush of excitement pass through him at the thought.

"Hmm… boring." Santana looked back into her book and Kurt just grinned. As much as Santana tried to be outwardly dismissive of his romantic life, he knew that she lived vicariously through him since she couldn't date freely like she wanted - at least not with someone she wanted.

They stayed in the library until it was closed and the henpecking old librarian ushered them out in irritance. Santana returned to her dorm and Kurt skipped happily to his, not caring who saw him doing so. He was at the top of his class, he was dating Kent State's most eligible (gay) bachelor, and was on the brink of summertime where all he had to worry about was work. Life was good.

Of course that meant it all had to come crashing down around him.

As he approached his room, he slowly, seeing a figure sitting in front of his room, spinning a rose in his fingers. Curly black hair and compact form gave him away long before he even turned his eyes towards Kurt's approaching figure and looked directly up at him with soulful amber eyes.

The first thought that Kurt had was that it was Blaine, and he was alive and alright, and free.

The second thought was that Kurt needed to either hide him away or get rid of him because the top student in the fashion program couldn't be seen with someone wearing the ill-fitted suit Blaine had on, looking like he was swimming in it as he stood up and clearly purchased in the 'no one will ever buy this in a million years' bin at a second hand store.

The third thought Kurt had was conscious guilt over the second thought. Who was he to judge Blaine for what he was wearing? (Aside from, as mentioned, the top student in the fashion program).

But instead of feeling the guilt his mind told him he should feel, or the sadness that was reflected in Blaine's eyes, Kurt felt angry.

"What are you doing here…?" He growled towards Blaine, shoulders tensing and back straightening as he approached the other man.

"I…" Blaine seemed taken aback, like he was not at all expecting this reaction out of Kurt. ".. I'm free… I wanted to see you…."

A slap echoed through the hall as Kurt dropped his books to the floor so he could point at Blaine accusingly, "I TRIED to see you! Remember! You can't just come and go from my life at your whim!"

"But I…" Blaine sputtered, looking at Kurt so pleadingly with those puppy dog eyes of his.

"NO! You know that Santana had to sleep with me at night so I wouldn't run off to try and see you? She let her own grades slide to save me from making a damned fool of myself, making me go to class and eat and sleep! I cried myself to sleep for months Blaine. MONTHS. That after I worried sick for months beforehand not knowing what had happened to you! You were supposed to be my best friend!"

Blaine stuttered a little, taking a step back and looking lost as his eyes roamed Kurt's face, "I was in service Kurt… I just… I just couldn't see you…."

"Right. You signed yourself away so your asshole parents could be free to be assholes again." Kurt huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Miraculously, no one had come out from their rooms to see what the drama was.

"I thought I was doing the right thing…."

"Well you didn't." Kurt snorted, leaning down to grab his books and shove past Blaine to unlock his door. "You chose them over me."

"I didn't mean to choose anyone Kurt….."

"Well you did."

Kurt got his lock open and went into his room, letting Blaine follow him in and hesitantly close the door behind him. "Please Kurt… I didn't want to do it… but…" He sighed, "If it had been you and your dad - wouldn't you have agreed to it?"

Kurt eyes went round as he turned around and looked towards Blaine, "Of course I would… but the difference is that my dad would never had done that to me. Your parents always put their own interests before you Blaine and yet you still believed that doing something as idiotic as that could endear yourself to them."

Blaine nodded, not speaking and just looking towards the floor in defeat. He knew. Somehow he had figured it out and it had been too late. The anger dissipated within Kurt as he watched the boy, so obviously broken, standing weakly in front of him. Sympathy flooded him where anger had been and he stepped forward and embraced Blaine without thinking.

"They said I was an adult… that I could look out for myself now…." Blaine whimpered against Kurt's shoulder as he melted against him and the cracks in his form began to show as sobs started to wrack his body.

"Shh…" Kurt stroked his back over, again and again as he worked to soothe Blaine, pulling him tighter into his hold. The guilt now felt free to attack Kurt since the anger had gone away and he cursed himself for giving Blaine a hard time - even though he did need to get all his frustration out that he had been carrying for the last year and a half.

"They said there was no place in the family for someone who whored himself out like I had… they said…. they said… I wasn't their son."

It crushed Kurt's heart to hear Blaine quote his parents, and suddenly he wished he had managed to sneak away one of those nights Santana was trying to keep him out of trouble and somehow rescue Blaine.

Kurt pulled Blaine to his single bed and sat back, tugging Blaine along with him so that he could cry himself out in a more comfortable position with Kurt's arms snug around him. He still looked as beautiful as Kurt had remembered him. Those curls still framed his face perfectly, and his eyes held so much emotion. There was not a flaw to be found on his face, save for the sadness that seemed to overwhelm it at the moment.

Eventually Blaine cried himself dry of tears and just held onto to Kurt, breathing heavily for a long while before he spoke again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you… I didn't want to hurt you."

Kurt fingered Blaine's curls idly as he replied, "I'm sorry I got mad at you… I just… I thought I had gotten past it all…"

"It's okay. I deserved it."

"You didn't." Kurt assured Blaine, tipping his head down to press a kiss to the top of Blaine's forehead. "I'm sorry about your parents…."

"I didn't know what to do or where to go when they said I wasn't welcome…. I don't even know where Cooper is living or if he'd even take me in.. and all I could think of was you…" Blaine admitted quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be…" Kurt cooed softly, continuing to stroke his fingers through that amazing curly hair that bounced back perfectly after each stroke. "You can hide out in my room for now and we'll go from there…"

He let Blaine gather himself back up, emotionally speaking, as Kurt went to the vending machine to get them a meal very reminiscent of their time together in the warehouse. Blaine explained that the suit was all he could find to wear when he left service since they only him leave with the clothes he had transferred with - which, considering he had been at club doing lap dances - weren't public appropriate. It was discovered in a garbage bin and he had done his best to wash it up before putting it on to see his parents, who, as he had explained, had refused to let Blaine rejoin them, slamming the door on his face.

Then he had hitchhiked to Ohio, remembering that Kurt had said he would be attending Kent state and hoping he still was.

"What did they have you doing at that manor anyhow?" Kurt asked quietly after Blaine had given him the runthrough of his journey to the college.

Blaine's lips pursed together and he shook his head, "Can I tell you later? I'm just… I'm not… I mean I don't want to… I…"

"It's okay." Kurt assured him, though the curiosity surged inside him with the deflection. "Why don't you rest. You must be exhausted."

Blaine nodded, and glanced around, "Uh… I can take the floor…"

"Nope. You'll cuddle with me and deal with it." Kurt said with a grin, earning one in return from Blaine.

He loaned Blaine a set of pyjamas and the pair of them curled up together and chuckled together, forgoing sleep in favour of reminiscing about things they had done and their youth they had shared until Blaine dozed off beside Kurt and Kurt watched him entranced.

How had he been able to go on without this in his life?


	20. Chapter 20

"So… does he do anything other than sleep?" Santana mused, looking at the boy in Kurt's bed, softly snoring all tucked up under the covers.

Kurt smiled softly as he looked over at Blaine fondly and shook his head, "No… three days now and he only wakes to eat, go to the washroom, and talk with me until he dozes off again…"

"Is he sick?"

Kurt shrugged, "I don't know. I found his paperwork in one of the pockets of the thing he wore here. He still has his free after-service doctor check-up available so I booked an appointment for him at the campus doctor.. but that's not for a couple days yet. I think he's just… exhausted."

"Oh princess…." Santana huffed, poking at the rose Blaine had brought that first night, which was sitting in a glass of water and drooping now despite Kurt's best efforts to keep it perky and proud. "... that's more than exhaustion."

"How would you know?" Kurt asked, turning his eyes away for just a moment to look at his friend.

"Trust me on this. I know."

He shrugged and returned his eyes to Blaine, all curled up in the fetal position in the bed. Had he always slept like that? Kurt remembered when they were in the warehouse and watching Blaine when he was sick and Blaine sprawled out under the covers as he mumbled through his fever. He remembered when they were kids, napping in the afternoons under the sun in their shorts and all stretched out, Kurt awakening with sunburns because his skin couldn't hold a tan like Blaine's could. No, this was new.

"What does Adam think about this?"

Kurt blinked a few times, "Uh… Adam?"

"You've told Adam right? Didn't you have a date scheduled with him a couple nights ago?"

Kurt went wide-eyed and looked towards his phone, left abandoned on the desk. Three voicemails, numerous missed texts. Shit.

Santana just laughed into her palms and shook her head, "Oh god… Kurt… really? You forgot all about Adam and all it took was baby brown eyes?"

"Yeah…." Kurt said quietly, picking up his phone and skimming through all the missed texts from Adam. He had made calls on the phone, to the doctor, to his dad, to Santana… but didn't even register the missed messages. His brain seemed to have one track only right now, playing on repeat, and it was Blaine.

"You'd better call him before he busts in here and finds another man in your bed." Santana said, still laughing over her words.

"What do I say though? Sorry, the man who's haunted my dreams and periodically appeared in my life since I was ten showed up and I forgot you even existed? My bad?" Kurt mused aloud, looking towards Santana who was still finding amusement at his predicament as she laughed gayly.

"I don't know Kurt… all I know is that you clearly have it bad."

Kurt sighed, "He seems so… sad… worn down… I just want to make him better."

"His family should be doing that."

"His family is composed of assholes." Kurt asserted, looking back towards Blaine with fire in his eyes. "His parents used him to get out of service and his brother, who apparently makes more than enough money if the estimates on the internet were any indication, never even thought to pay his way out - or concern himself with why Blaine's status changed…"

"Doesn't make it your responsibility Kurt…. honestly. What're you going to do? Keep him here? Won't your R.A. check in and -"

"My R.A. lets out a plume of smoke everytime he opens his room door and then wonders aloud, in stoned amazement, at the clouds he's released into the hallway. I'm not worried about him."

" - anyhow… you have your degree to worry about… a boyfriend who's probably going out of his mind with worry right now… and a job you've apparently called in sick twice for this week. Have you even studied anymore for your final tomorrow?"

"Shit…" Kurt looked at the textbook he had abandoned the night Blaine had shown up.

"So no." Santana concluded with a roll of her eyes. "Don't screw up your life for this kid Kurt."

"I'm not…" Kurt said with hushed breath, looking back towards the sleeping body, "I'll… study… I'll figure things out… but I just… I couldn't leave him alone… and Adam isn't my boyfriend."

"He seems to think otherwise."

"Well I don't recall having the conversation with him." Kurt huffed, irritated now by the thought of the man he had just, a few days ago, been quite smitten with. "How do you know that anyhow?"

"He called me when he couldn't get ahold of you. Thus why I'm here, at your room, discovering you have the infamous Blaine Anderson snuggled into your bed like a puppy, and you spending your studying and work time sewing him new clothes."

Kurt glanced over at the sewing machine. He had been working on making a couple new outfits for Blaine. There were definitely perks to being in a fashion program where fabric and materials were literally everywhere for the taking, and one of the material requirements of the program was a sewing machine. "It'll help for my demo final in design construction…"

Another snicker fled from Santana's lips, "Right. Whatever helps you sleep at night princess."

"You don't think I'm being rational do you…?" Kurt sighed, eyes set on the slightly shifting form under the blanket.

"Not being rational Kurt? God… that's an understatement. I think you've lost your fucking mind. You're going to screw up everything you've worked so hard at for a boy whose hair looks like he's part poodle and is practically homeless and has nothing to offer you but more grief."

"That's not true…" He whispered softly.

"Really? Then tell me… what can he do for you? He has no money, no skills aside from obeying orders, probably has a Dent high school diploma which will limit what kind of colleges he can get into - if any. I don't really think his family is willing to use what connections they might have to elevate your career… So tell me Kurt - what the hell are you doing?"

Kurt sighed, slipping from the chair he was sitting at and kneeling by the bed where he looked at Blaine's face, eyes scrunched together and brows twitching as he dreamed. "I'm doing what feels right."

"Yeah, well… what felt right for your dad got you and him indentured remember? If you think you love him, or whatever it is, you need a reality check. Love doesn't keep you safe in this world Kurt. All you're going to do is get hurt again."

Kurt bowed his head down, "I think you should go Santana…."

He heard a huff, a chair shift, and then the door creak open, "Call me when you find your sanity."

Then he was left alone again with Blaine, reaching up to stroke his fingers through those bands of curls - that were not poodle-like at all no matter what Santana thought. They were perfect. He was perfect.

Abandoning the work on his sewing machine for the moment, Kurt crawled into the bed behind Blaine and spooned up against him, breathing in the scent of his own fabric softener from the blanket, and the noodles they had eaten for lunch. His own thoughts and emotions weighing him down, he felt tired too then and quickly dozed off, snuggling against Blaine for all it was worth.

When he awoke, he found himself alone, reaching out across his small bed to seek out Blaine and finding nothing but a piece of paper.

_Kurt,_

_I heard you and Santana talking earlier. I'm sorry. I didn't want to bring you down. I didn't and don't want to ruin the life you've built up for yourself. You know how I feel about you, and I know you feel the same but we're not in the same place in our lives and you deserve so much better than I can offer you - which is nothing. I have nothing and you know that. Santana was right. You need to forget about me. I'm sorry for pushing my way into your life again. Please. Be happy._

_All my love,_

_Blaine_

"Oh no he didn't…." Kurt growled, gripping the paper with white knuckles before letting it fall to the ground as he rapidly got himself dressed and ran out the door.

Blaine wasn't jumping out of his life again that easily.


	21. Chapter 21

"Get your ass back here!" Kurt yelled as he caught up with Blaine's retreating form. He has guessed right, insomuch as Blaine would be heading towards the bus terminal at the school, and had managed to spot him from afar, breaking into a run as he closed in on him.

Blaine at first tried to ignore Kurt, but when it became clear that he wasn't going to be able to do that without making a scene, he finally spun around and looked at Kurt with those damned soulful eyes that made it difficult for Kurt to feel anything but sorry for Blaine… and that damned ugly suit he was back in.

"Kurt…" Blaine began as soon as Kurt reached him and they were standing toe to toe.

"No!" Kurt interrupted, a finger pointing its way to Blaine's face such that he was forced to be silent. "You don't get to talk. You chose to take the coward's way out and write me a damned letter. No talking."

So Blaine sealed his lips back together and dropped his gaze like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar while Kurt let loose.

"YOU do not get to decide what is best for me. You do not read minds, especially not mine. You have no right to decide I'm somehow better off without you and, dammit, you can't say we're at different points in our lives because that's such a damned cliche that makes no sense whatsoever. Everyone is at different points in their lives, even if they look like they're on par on the outside… some are closer to death and some are closer to understanding the meaning of life and that can be anywhere on the bloody spectrum of your existence and…. " He took a breath in, "I'm rambling… but…. god damn it Blaine! You just don't get to run off because you think you're an interference in my life!"

Blaine's eyes lifted, gazing up past his lids at Kurt's face, beet red from his rant.

"You can talk now." Kurt said with a huff, remembering his earlier order and that Blaine, fresh from service still, probably was used to waiting until being given permission to speak, especially since Kurt had just told him to be quiet.

"I… I thought… well… I didn't know you had a boyfriend now…"

Kurt rolled his eyes, "I don't. Clearly you weren't listening closely enough."

"Wait, what?" A new voice joined in and Kurt had to wince. Adam. Of course he'd show up now.

Both Blaine and Kurt turned their heads towards the English boy in the little toque barely attached to his head looking absolutely lost in the conversation he hadn't been invited to and Kurt inwardly cursed both the man's poor timing as well as the fact that he was having to deal with this issue now.

So he sighed, and following up with his rant with Blaine, broke into an all too quick spiel to get Adam out of there.

"Look. You're a nice guy. Our dates were fabulous… but I don't feel like it's going anywhere. It's not you, it's me… and quite frankly, I have feelings for someone else."

Throughout it all, he gestured wildly - first his hands were in the air, then at his side, and finally swooping towards Blaine as he indicated just who his feelings were for. Both the other men watched his hands, both appearing overwhelmed with how quickly Kurt was brushing Adam off, and if Kurt wasn't already feeling volatile about having to chase after Blaine, he might have also been surprised with himself.

"Uh… yeah… well… uh…" Adam's loss for words didn't wear well on Kurt's lack of patience and the Englishman seemed to pick up on that too with the tap-tap-tap of Kurt's toes on the sidewalk, excusing himself by way of saying, "Well… I guess I'll see you around then."

With Adam walking off, Kurt turned his attention back to Blaine who still looked absolutely lost - not only in the suit, but with what had just occurred in front of him. "Kurt… you didn't have to… for me…"

"Oh for…" Kurt just shook his head and reached for Blaine's hand, "Come on. Let's get back and have supper."

But Blaine hesitated and so Kurt had to look back at him, aggravation building in his bones. "What?"

"You still have feelings for me?"

If he rolled his eyes much harder, they might just leave his eye sockets. "Of course I do you moron."

That seemed to be enough for Blaine to follow Kurt's lead back to the dorms, the pair having to rush as the rain started to fall fiercely enough to match Kurt's current state of mind.

Door snapped shut behind them, Kurt panted and reached over to start pulling the clothes off of Blaine. "I swear I'd burn this suit if it wasn't wet right now…"

Blaine lifted his arms, allowing Kurt to peel off the offending clothing and make a point of tossing it right into the garbage, grumbling the whole time about poor fabric selection, complimentary colors, and stitch choices while a grin formed over Blaine's face.

"You really like fashion huh?"

Kurt looked up from where he was peeling the pants off Blaine, letting Blaine's words register with him with a bit of confusion, "Well… yeah."

"I just… I might have assumed you went into this because you always said you could sew in your sleep after working at my parent's factory and thought it would be easy…."

Kurt snickered and shook his head, "No… although that helps…" He stood back up once Blaine was left in the boxers he had borrowed and proceeded to strip himself down to his underwear. "Grab a couple towels from my closet. Let's go take a shower."

The dorms Kurt stayed in were considered opulent as far as college rooms went - insomuch as he had his own room. That's where the richness ended though. Like most dorms, each floor had a common shower area to which the boys headed once they were freed of their drenched garments.

"I'm sorry Kurt…" Blaine said quietly as they entered the echoing chamber of shared showers and steam fogged mirrors.

"You'd better be… honestly… you don't know me at all after all these years if you think you're a burden. Dumbass maybe… but burden? No." Kurt allowed a smile to grace his features as he peaked into each and every shower stall, grimacing as he found one thing or another that made it unsuitable - from an abundance of hair clogging up the drain to discarded shampoo and soaps littering the stall.

"God… it's like I'm living with apes." Kurt muttered, shaking his head.

"We could… share a shower?" Blaine offered, looking back to Kurt from the stall he had been pushed into when Kurt had deemed it alright.

Kurt paused, letting the blush creep up his chest to his cheeks. Being in fashion, he didn't worry about seeing half dressed men, like Blaine had been in his room, since he was constantly dressing and redressing models for his practical course requirements - but naked? With Blaine? That certainly sent shudders up his spine.

"Unless… uh… you're…." Blaine started to say, but by that time the shudder had passed from Kurt's body straight into his cock and he was pressing himself right up into Blaine's arms and pulling the curtain shut behind them as he backed Blaine into the tiled wall and attached his lips while one hand went out to turn on the shower.

"Mmph!" was the response Kurt initially got from Blaine, though the other boy's surprise seemed to dissipate as his body melted against Kurt's. Both of them let their hands wander. Kurt's went up to let his fingers feel the slopes of Blaine's body from his sides to his shoulders while Blaine's travelled down and slipped under the elastic of Kurt's boxers which were quickly becoming wet under the spray of the lukewarm shower.

It takes everything Kurt has in him to refrain from just pushing the equally wet boxers off Blaine's hips and bend him over right there and then, dating rules be damned. With Blaine, every sense of rationality Kurt has goes straight out the proverbial window. He doesn't care they're in a public bathroom, or that Blaine's only been back in his life for a couple days, or that he just publicly dumped Adam on the university grounds - he just wants Blaine.

Their kisses are sloppy, and half the time they don't even connect perfectly with their lips so their cheeks and jaws end up getting just as much tongue as their mouths. Part of it is that their focus is divided as both of them seem to have the same idea - getting the other one out of that last bit of fabric between them.

It happens though, Kurt with his boxers eventually weighed down by the weight of the water and Blaine's incessant tugs against the waistband allow his boxers to slip down around his ankles where he's able to kick them back. Blaine's boxers take a little bit more work since they actually have to pull away from the wall for a moment to get them down.

Then they're both gloriously naked and Kurt can feel Blaine's dick twitching against his own and he could reach orgasm just from the feeling of having another man so intimately touching him like that.

It takes a little bit more though. They have to hide themselves in the space just under the shower stream because the building is old and the force of the water is unforgiving - making it quite possible for even the slightest of sprays to cause them the kind of pain they don't want to have against their crotches. Kurt's hips roll forward, and he has to wonder if this is a build in response to being so aroused because Blaine is doing the same. After a few awkward thrusts against one another, they find a rhythm and are soon panting heavily into each other's mouths while their cocks brush against one another at an increasingly frantic pace.

When Kurt comes, it's nothing like the times he's used his hand in bed, trying to keep himself quiet because of the lack of sound barrier between the rooms. His vision is flooded with white and he goes completely stiff, keening so loudly Blaine has to shove his tongue deep into his mouth just to muffle the noise and the echos it creates. Everything in him feels like jelly and his body just wants to collapse and he would be happy to let it happen if Blaine wasn't holding onto him tightly and stiffening up in turn.

Kurt barely registered the sound of Blaine's cry into his mouth and the warm spurts against his belly, so lost in the stars that flitted through his vision as he came down from a high he didn't know existed.

They're quiet afterwards, Blaine holding tightly onto Kurt, still braced back against the wall. Their breath eventually catches up with them and they move into the shower still affixed to one another, dancing in place against one another as the hot and cold water came in sharp sputters against their naked bodies. Kurt eventually recalls how to move without Blaine and reaches for the soap from his shower caddy, washing them both over and lazily pressing kisses to random points on Blaine's body. The process occurs again when it comes to washing their hair, and by the time they manage to find their feet enough to leave the shower, an hour has somehow passed.

It isn't until they're back in Kurt's room that either of them speaks.

"Thank you."

The words aren't what Kurt expected to come out of Blaine's mouth, but they're sweet nonetheless. He crawls in aside Blaine in bed and pulls the blanket up over the both of them. "For what?"

"For… giving me everything… you… that…"

Kurt smiles, attributing Blaine's lack of articulation to the haze he feels right now as well. He's somewhere between peaceful and thrumming with emotion. Kurt's hand reaches to cup Blaine's jaw and, with better aim than he had in the showers, covers Blaine's lips with his own as he kisses him lazily until his lips feel like they've been stung by bees and are too numb to even process being kissed anymore.

"You're welcome."


	22. Chapter 22

Kurt delighted in waking up to Blaine's face smushed against his chest and finding himself wrapped up in Blaine's arms. It's like he's being held onto so that Blaine can avoid drifting away - so secure and solid, and Kurt enjoys the feeling of being needed, and wanted, so much.

He lets himself be embraced as he reaches for his cellphone and plays a little puzzle game, not wanting to wake Blaine, much less study for one of his impending finals. Santana sends a message. It's as much as an apology as he can hope from when it comes to her.

**[From: Santana]  
Hey. Our circle of friends is all abuzz about how you dumped English McHipster out on the lawn yesterday in favour of some random guy with crazy curly hair. Nicely done.**

He winces at the memory, only now feeling bad about how he essentially shut out Adam without any hesitation or thought. He doesn't regret it, not when he has Blaine curled up against him, but he does feel guilty about being so rude about it. He knows he could have been nicer.

Another message makes his phone ping and he looks down and smiles.

**[From: Santana]  
Bringing coffee. Make sure you're finished any wanky shit by the time I get there.**

She has her own key, which he's never been sure how she's gotten, and lets herself in a few minutes later. Kurt is still wound up in Blaine when she arrives and Santana merely raises an eyebrow and then smirks before handing over Kurt's mocha-latte and sitting herself in the chair at his desk.

"So. He's still a sleeper."

Kurt nods, looking down and weaving his fingers into the curls laying against his chest. "Yeah."

"I can watch out for him while you're writing your final today. I have nothing in my schedule today aside from getting all the scandalous details of your forgoing date rules."

They chuckle, sip their drinks, and eventually Blaine shifts. He lifts his head and peers around blearily before he registers the third person in the room and pulls the blanket up to his neck bashfully.

"Relax boy. Nothing I haven't seen before… and trust me. Nothing I want to see either."

Kurt rubs gentle circles to his back and it loosens Blaine up enough that he's able to recall the finer points of Kurt's social life enough to look her over and offer a weak smile, "You must be Santana."

"And you're Blaine Anderson. You're so much more tolerable when you're not kicking my friend in the shins."

Kurt has never told Blaine that Santana used to be one of the workers at the factory, but some memory must surface because he looks down at the bed with guilt stained eyes and mumbles a weak "sorry".

It makes her laugh and she quickly tells him that it's fine because "Kurt here clearly doesn't have a problem with that particular kink" and proceeds to inform Blaine that if he "so much as insults a hair on Kurt's finely coiffed hair" that she will "ensure he is never able to please another human being in his existence."

"She's terrifying." Blaine whispers over to Kurt, huddled back against him and as white in the face as he can get.

"She means well." Kurt simply says, finishing off his cup of caffeine and tossing it into the wastebasket.

"I kind of do." Santana agreed, tossing her own empty cup into the garbage as well. "Now get dressed. I'm taking you for basic necessity shopping since I know Kurt can only share his toothbrush and overpriced shampoo for so long. Plus he needs to make sure he blows his exam away so he can keep his scholarship."

Santana leaves the room long enough for them to get dressed, Kurt dressing Blaine in clothes fresh off his sewing machine and making a few on the spot modifications with a needle and thread, before she returned.

"Come on Hobbit head. We're going to be best friends for the day." She asserted before dragging Blaine away who looked back at Kurt with pleading 'help me' eyes which Kurt just smirked at.

He knew Blaine was in good hands.

Usually Kurt finds he never has enough time to study, but without Blaine, he feels like the day drags on forever. Eventually he goes to write his exam, finding it questionably easy to the point where he's triple guessing his answers because he's sure it must be a trick question.

But at least that one is over.

His practical exam is next, and making clothing for Blaine has certainly been the challenge and opportunity he needed to hone his skills. Usually they're thrown a model with all too predictable measurements and colouring for practical exams and told to create an outfit for a particular situation. Blaine may be gorgeous, but he lacks the height, colouring, and physique of the models Kurt is used to working with and that thrills him when it comes to design. He doesn't get to create for "normal" humans often enough.

When Blaine and Santana do return, Blaine is weighed down by several bags and thanking Santana profusely for what's in them - which she dismisses with a wave and tells him, "You'll pay me back later."

It's at that point when Kurt realizes that Blaine won't just be passing through his life this time. With a toothbrush and cleaning necessities and his very own pack of underwear being unloaded into drawers that are already too stuffed with Kurt's own clothing, Kurt realizes that this is it. Blaine is his now. He doesn't have to share him with a boss, or his old prep school, or anything else for that matter. It makes his heart beat out of place and all he can do is watch Blaine try to find a spot to put the pyjama sets Santana bought for him.

"I'll empty a drawer for you…" He says finally when Santana prods him in the side - her way of telling him to stop staring like a creep.

"It's okay… I mean… I don't want to force you out of this place… I'll get a job and find my own place as soon as I can." Blaine says, so careful with the first things he's really owned in years that he's folding and refolding them absently.

"No." Kurt says it quickly and Santana snickers beside him. When Blaine glances back at him, he back peddles on his all too quick dismissing of Blaine's idea. "I mean. Yeah… you should get a job… apply to college too… but… stay. Please."

That elicits a smile from Blaine and there's no more talk of it. Santana orders them pizza for dinner and the pure, unadulterated joy visible on Blaine's face when he takes a bite of pepperoni and cheese is sheer bliss for Kurt to observe. He's knows he's going to have to spring for more exotic food choices than the salads and ramen he usually eats, when he remembers to, with his on the go student life.

They talk awhile longer, Blaine telling Kurt that Santana is going to get him back in touch with Brittany so he'll have another friend "on the outside" that knows what "the inside" is like for them all. Then Santana leaves, issuing orders to the both of them to ensure they do sleep that night or, heaven help her, she'll come back and beat them to sleep.

They do too. As much as Kurt's dick strains in his pants and tries to propel him against Blaine, he knows Blaine is still recovering from his time in service and that the night before was the result of built up tension from years of being pulled apart. Moreover, Blaine is still apologizing for the idle kisses he gifts to Kurt even though Kurt keeps telling him he wants them more than anything.

But it's okay, Kurt decides as he listens to Blaine snuffle and snore against him that night, because now they don't have to rush or worry about what any boss might think. He'll help Blaine come back to himself. They'll be able to enjoy one another, and things will come full circle.


	23. Chapter 23

Kurt had gone years without affection and intimacy. At the time he didn't see what the big deal was. Hell, he had created a thorough date-by-date intimacy level scheduler, but with Blaine, all that went out the window. Every moment he found himself in a hair's breath of Blaine, Kurt couldn't help but press their lips together - which ended up being a lot since he had Blaine hidden away in his tiny room most of the time while he studied and Blaine slept.

His hands kept finding their way onto Blaine's skin where he let them travel and explore every ridge and curve, every smooth expanse, and every furry nook. He made sure his eyes had mapped each freckle, each patch of hair, and every dimple. Kurt even let his nose roam free, noting how Blaine's feet smelled, well, like feet, how his hair smelled of Kurt's shampoo, and how his neck smelled of the cinnamon hearts he kept sneaking out of Kurt's candy dish.

Kurt had even let himself savour the total musk that was Blaine's underarms when he cuddled himself into Blaine's embrace at night.

In fact, Kurt actually found his newfound desire for intimacy halted by Blaine on several occasions.

"No… not yet…." Blaine had said weakly as Kurt teased his mouth down towards pyjama pants he had pulled down.

"Ah…!" Blaine yelped, turning red, and then pulling away when Kurt spooned him with his ever present pant bulge pressed into the crevice between Blaine's perfect little ass.

"God… Kurt… I want to… but… we need to hold off a little…" Blaine whimpered when Kurt had dragged his fingers towards his own ass another night, trying to get some relief.

Indeed, their intimacy had been limited to urgent grinding that left both of them with messes in their pants because the only time Kurt could seem to keep Blaine from backing off was when they were fully clothed. There had been no repeat of the scene in the shower room, and Kurt was beginning to wonder if there was something unappealing about him, or if Blaine was really that nervous about it all.

"You're an absolute, unadulterated idiot." Santana said once Kurt openly griped to her about the lack of progress when it came to having Blaine in his bed. He had just written a final exam and was walking back to his dorm when his friend caught up to him.

"Why? Because I'm suddenly realizing that… hey! Maybe sex is an awesome thing after all?" Kurt snapped back, and wincing as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He was frustrated, and while Santana could be rude, she didn't deserve his snarkiness.

"No. Because you don't realize that he's not ready to progress to that right away after doing what he did in service."

Kurt stopped, and Santana took a couple more steps before realizing he was a yard back before turning around and looking at him trying to decipher just what that meant.

"I fast tracked Kurt, and when I left the service I didn't go straight to school the next day. That day we met again in high school - it was after I had done exactly what Blaine is doing now, sleeping off the mental and emotional exhaustion. It took me weeks to regain myself."

"I…." Kurt's eyes went wide as he looked again at his friend. He knew she had fast tracked - but they had never talked about it. He had never asked about. Now he felt guilty for not knowing more.

"He signed off on sex trade Kurt. Sure it was just lap dancing at the club… but what about after? You're frustrated he won't bang you. Well I'm pretty sure he's just waiting for the results of his blood and urine work from the doctor to make sure he's okay for you."

"Oh god…" Kurt wheezed under his breath, eyes suddenly flitting back and forth as his brain raced. "I didn't even… I never thought…. "

"Yeah, well, not all of us were so lucky to not have to fast track to get out at sixteen. Give him a break. Hell… he's doing better than I did at least. He hasn't thrown a chair at anyone anyhow."

"You threw a chair at someone?" Kurt asked, his voice still a tense whisper as his eyes remained transfixed on Santana.

"Only four times…." Santana grumbled, then squinted in thought. "Wait… no… five… just five times."

"Holy…" Santana was caustic. She was brutally honest and absolutely scalding when it came to verbally dressing down people she took issue with, but Kurt had never known her to be violent. The image was terrifying, and the reasoning behind it made his stomach go sour and groan.

"Anyhow… all I'm saying is… he obviously wants nothing more than to be with you, but he's got to have a little time to heal as well." She shrugged and turned back away.

Kurt stepped up to her and together they resumed walking to the dorms together. "You really think he's been…" Kurt couldn't even say it. Not Blaine. Not HIS Blaine.

She sighed, "He hasn't said anything to me if that's what you're asking… but… I wouldn't be surprised really. Once you've signed off on fast tracking that way, you can't un-sign it. I can't imagine why some old rich guy would want him for a couple years though… unless it was that."

Kurt's adam's apple bobbed hard against the line of his throat as unwelcome images spun through his mind of Blaine and some faceless, other man. To say he didn't like the idea was an understatement.

"I'm sorry I never asked you about that Santana…." Kurt murmured, trying to get the unwanted pictures out of his brain.

"Don't." She shot a finger up. "Don't. It's my past. It's done and gone. It's not part of me in any way, shape, or form now. When I don't talk about it, I don't think about it, and when I don't think about it, it doesn't exist."

He nodded, letting his lips seal together as they continued the journey in silence and parted ways at the entrance to his building. The elevator was perpetually broken so he ascended the stairs slowly, each step a question in his mind. Should he ask Blaine? Should he wait until Blaine said something to him? Should he be worried? Could he compare to someone else? How could anyone do that? How could his parents sign off on that? How could they reject him for that if they were the ones who signed off in the first place? How long until Blaine felt better? Would he ever feel better?

He reached his door far too quickly, and with no answers from his climb.

Blaine was still sleeping, fingertips twitching against the blankets, and brow furrowing every so often. At this point, Kurt knew that he was definitely asleep, and well within a dream by the tells of his body.

Looking at him, Kurt saw traces of the boy he had known. The long lashes that had always fanned over the tops of his cheeks. The hair that would never listen to reason and stay put. The twitch of a grin, even in sleep, that made his cheeks pop out. Someone had hurt that boy, and it made Kurt sick to think of what that might do to the man that Kurt had no problem admitting he loved.

"Mm…. 'nuggle?" Blaine murmured, eyes splitting apart as he blearily seemed to sense Kurt's nearness.

"Yeah…"

Kurt stripped down to his boxers, crawling in alongside Blaine and allowing himself to be wrapped up in his arms as Blaine cuddled against him and mumbled lazily "How was your test?"

"Fine… it was… fine…" Kurt reached up to brush his fingers over Blaine's face, tracing the lines of his cheekbones and jaw and receiving a happy hum in response to his ministrations. "All done now for the summer."

"Mmm…. 'kay."

Blaine fell back asleep without too long of a pause and Kurt let his eyes linger over this boy-man in his bed. His heart pumped so hard against his ribs, threatening to shatter them under its force, as he fretted over how to ask Blaine just what the last couple years of his life has entailed.

Because if there was one thing Kurt knew, it was that if he didn't ask, the worries would eat away at him. He had to be direct, even if it was hard on them both.

For now though, he let himself enjoy the slow tempo of Blaine's even breathing and the way his arm hairs tickled Kurt's sides where they had bound themselves around his waist - clasped behind Kurt's back so there was no easy way he could escape. It was to that slow, steady melody of breathing that Kurt eventually settled inside himself and allowed himself to fall asleep in the safest place he could be.

He had definitely enjoyed the easiness of napping with Blaine, if nothing else.

The tables were turned when Kurt awoke, finding Blaine's eyes settled on his face and seeing his boyish grin take over his face as he noticed Kurt waking. "My sleeping beauty."

It made Kurt snicker. It was the epitome of cheesiness and so, completely a Blaine thing to say. Plus it was exactly the kind of thing Kurt needed to help lift the weight on his heart.

"What? My lines not good enough for you?"

Kurt grinned and shook his head, reaching up to cup Blaine's cheek and ply his lips with his own, taking a moment to just enjoy the promise those lips on his had before breaking them apart.

"Blaine… what were you doing at the Smythe place?"

A cloud fell over Blaine almost immediately, his eyes dropping away from Kurt's and the corners of his mouth changing direction. He held his breath for a moment before whispering.

"If I tell you, you won't want me anymore."

Whatever weight had been lifted from Kurt's heart came back instantly and smashed it with its force. "Oh god… no Blaine… no… Santana said some stuff today and…." He stopped, took in a breath, and backtracked. "Santana fast tracked after the factory. She said the way you're acting is like how she was after she got out of service and… I…. it's okay Blaine. I just want to know how to help you."

There was a lengthy pause between Kurt's words and Blaine speaking, and for a moment Kurt thought he had it all wrong and Blaine was just exhausted from working so hard or from the emotional fallout of his parents rejecting him. God, if only he was wrong.

"Sex trade…. yeah. Doctor said it was a normal response when I went the other day. Advised me not to self medicate with drugs or alcohol because apparently that happens with a lot of cases…. I'm not going to though… wouldn't have the money for it anyhow…."

Kurt stiffened, but forced himself to nod, to just listen and let Blaine know he could talk without judgement or reprieve.

"When I was dancing… at that club where you saw me, a former classmate saw me there - from when I was in school. He kept coming back… turns out he has money to spare - the old kind of money you can't spend away even if you tried. He got his dad to broker the deal. I think that even if I didn't sign the paperwork it might have happened anyway… I found out he… Sebastian… always gets what he wants. He wanted me…. at least for the first few months. He got bored though…."

The emotions that surged through Kurt rallied up and down from his stomach to his heart. Anger, sadness, disgust. He tried to keep himself stoic, plain faced, but really didn't know how much his feelings tried to get through with the sweat forming on his brow or the way his muscles kept twitching and tensing as the fury within him tried to escape.

"... a deal was a deal though…. I stayed on until I was nineteen. I was useful for friends of his. Guys who needed an outlet but weren't "open" about their sexuality to their family. His dad had the same idea. I made the rounds I guess you'd say…."

There was a long sigh, and a long release following it, Blaine forcing his eyes to come back up to meet Kurt's and search for his response.

"... When you came by… after you figured out where I was and I happened to be passing the com system and cameras…. I was so ashamed…. I didn't want you to come in if only because I didn't want you to know what I'd become… and…." He gulped, tears threatening to spill over the rims at the bottom of his eyes, "... I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner… I thought you wouldn't want me…. like my family…"

Kurt couldn't hold himself back any longer. He whipped his arms around Blaine and held him tightly, holding him against him and rocking him gently in place as Blaine let out a sob, and then another, and another. Before long Kurt's shoulder was soaked and Blaine was babbling incoherently into his neck and all Kurt could think about was hiding Blaine away from the world for as long as it took to let him know he mattered while simultaneously taking out a hit on the Smythe's and Blaine's parents. Blaine had more than paid for an eternity's worth of shin kicking and toe stomping from his youth, and Kurt just couldn't fathom how the world could see fit to let this happen.

Blaine cried until his eyes were dry of tears and his face was red and splotchy, Kurt reassuring him again and again that he loved him and everything would be okay. He couldn't guarantee it, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try to make it so. Once Blaine was calmer, Kurt took him to the showers, booting out the couple odd guys in there so that he could soap, and shampoo, and otherwise pamper Blaine like he deserved, helping him into fresh pajamas and tucking him back into bed where Blaine slept like the dead even though he had slept the day away already.

Then he texted his dad. As much as Blaine needed Kurt to be solid and steadfast then, Kurt needed someone to vent to, and his dad knew the perils of loving someone enough to risk everything for them more than anyone else.


	24. Chapter 24

"Music? Really?" Kurt asked as he reached over to brush one of Blaine's wild curls away from his eyes, even though the offending piece of hair would bounce back to its original spot as soon as he pulled his hand away.

Blaine nodded. They had been talking about his plans for the future. With all the programs available on campus, music was the only thing that had resonated with him. "I don't want to do anything like what my parents do. I didn't like it then and I definitely don't like it now. I was actually really good in all my music classes back in school. I wish I could have played for you…"

Kurt smiled, shutting his eyes and imagining a younger Blaine trying to sit still at a piano or with a guitar serenading him. It was definitely an image he had to force. "I think it's perfect. Although you know as a couple the only way we could scream any gayer is if one of us was a hairstylist."

Sweet laughter arose beside him and Kurt's chin was cupped and turned towards Blaine's lips where they hit against one another long enough for the phone to interrupt them.

"Hello?" Kurt answered, grinning stupidly towards Blaine who was reflecting the same back. "Yeah. Just a minute."

He held the phone to Blaine and mouthed the word 'Doctor', inviting Blaine to greedily snatch up the phone and talk for a couple minutes with wide, eager eyes before shutting it off and letting a broad smile come over his face as he turned to Kurt.

"Well?!"

"Clean."

It was inconclusive which one of them jumped the other first, but it was definitely a synchronous effort that had each of them vying for the top position as they rolled and rerolled one another over on the bed. There was kissing until Kurt's cheeks and chin were all tingly from the rub of stubble against them and there is no difference between his saliva and Blaine's because it's beyond mixed from the frantic way their tongues have been exploring the mouth of one another.

Ultimately it was Blaine who ended up on top of Kurt, and Kurt had let him, wanting to make sure Blaine was sure about what was going on and him being just that little bit submissive to Blaine's desires seemed to be the way to go about that.

The lower half of their bodies aren't quite so united as legs work to kick off boxers and hips squirm while overexcited cocks are just trying to rut around for friction. Kurt is glad they only have to worry about their boxers thanks to the fact the old building isn't air conditioned and the only way to stay cool in it in the summer is to be as undressed as possible. He doesn't think he could manage to fully undress himself, let alone Blaine, when his brain has gone numb to supply blood for other regions of his body.

"Do you want to…. to me…?" Blaine sputters as they rock together, cocks catching on one another and only fueling Kurt's need for more.

"No… you…." Kurt whimpers in response. He doesn't know what he's doing, and he doesn't want to have Blaine the same way others have had him. At least not until he's given himself to Blaine.

"Oh…." Blaine says, sucking up a sharp breath as he does. "Okay."

Kurt worries he's asked something of Blaine that Blaine isn't comfortable providing but his brain goes numb again as Blaine's soft padded fingers reach down between the curves of Kurt's ass and brush over his tightly clenched pucker, making it wink while the rest of his body shudders with the contact. Then their lips reconnect and as they continue the needy kisses, Blaine's fingers rub back and forth and around Kurt's hole until the sensation is less foreign and scary, and more hot and welcome.

One of them manages to grab the little bottle of lube that Kurt had bought just last week from the dresser beside the bed and it's Blaine that uncaps it and lets it drizzle down Kurt's crack in shockingly cool trails that Blaine's fingers are quick to sweep up and press towards his hole. There's the intrusion of the first finger that makes Kurt groan into Blaine's mouth, and it works itself up and down inside of Kurt so urgently that Kurt isn't surprised when a second finger is pushed into his tight ring of muscle. He grits his molars together as Blaine scissors him out and stretches him from within. Everything he's read has said this is going to be amazing once he gets past this hump, and damned if he doesn't want to get past the hump.

Three fingers, and Kurt is panting more than kissing when Blaine digs his free hand into the dresser to pull out a condom and fumbles with his one hand and his mouth to open it. Kurt would help, but he's whining and writhing below Blaine on account of the ministrations of fingers inside him. At times it's burning and sore and pain, but then there's rushes of pleasure and the need for more. Slowly it becomes more the latter than the former and Kurt is awash in euphoria when Blaine pulls his fingers out and wraps his dick up in the condom.

Fingers don't compare to the steady, blunt force of a cock - no matter how much prep you have Kurt decides. Blaine is careful though, his impaling of Kurt a slow and careful matter until he's bottomed out inside and both of them breath heavily, eyes caught on one another wide and disparate.

"Please."

Blaine figures out the whole meaning behind Kurt's one word and he's thrusting himself in and out into Kurt, until Kurt is arching up and crying out Blaine's name as his arms flail and hit the wall, bed, window - everything in an attempt to deal with the spasms of pleasure he's experiencing for the first time.

"Shh… Kurt… neighbours…" Blaine tries, only to have a hand smacked up against his mouth as Kurt glowers up at him.

"To hell with them."

Kurt's lost in an orgasm not a minute later as Blaine seems to realize the best way to get Kurt quiet is just to work faster, harder. There's a messy series of streaks up Kurt's chest under his chin and it's just a breath later when Blaine is keening lowly and holding himself in place inside of Kurt.

He's too exhausted and lost in his haze of bliss to process Blaine dealing with the condom and cleaning him off, but Kurt does recognize when Blaine is laying back down beside him and wrapping his arms around him - an action Kurt mirrors.

"S'okay?"

Blaine chuckles and a kiss is pressed to the top of Kurt's sweat-soaked head, "Yeah. Amazing."

"S'good."

For the first time since Blaine has come back into his life, Kurt is the one to fall asleep easily, huddled against Blaine's chest and all that fur of his. He's not ever giving this up.

A few hours later and, aside from the slight soreness inside of Kurt which he was marvelling in rather than complaining about, he's back to work with an extra sense of purpose.

Blaine was a perfect statue whenever Kurt needed to make finishing touches and stitching on the outfits he made for him - never moving, holding his arms out for as long as Kurt might need, and only ever tensing when Kurt got close to his crotch.

"God you look dapper in this. Perfect for meeting my dad." Kurt mused before sticking a pin between his teeth as he pulled some fabric in place with his fingers before repinning it.

Blaine chuckled, "Dapper hey? I mean… wait. Meeting your dad?"

So much for Blaine only being tense when Kurt got close to his balls.

"Yeah…" Kurt stood up and reached for his already threaded needle, squatting back down to restitch the hem of the pants. "... next week. We're going to visit him."

"We?" Blaine squeaked as he looked down to Kurt.

"Yes. We."

"Oh…."

"Got some problem with that Blaine?" Kurt peered up, still stitching. He could sew blind if necessary at this point.

Blaine shook his head first but it quickly became a nod as the thoughts seemed to form in his head. "Well.. how is your dad going to be okay with me? I mean… after what I did and I have nothing and I'm basically mooching off his son…"

"He knows Blaine. I talked to him the other night…" Kurt dropped his gaze back down as he broke the string and tied it up.

"He… does? Everything?"

Kurt just nodded.

"Oh…"

Half a breath then,

"And he's okay with it?"

Kurt nodded again, smirking to himself. It was pretty adorable, if he did say so himself, that Blaine was worried about meeting his dad - regardless of the reasoning behind it.

"Okay then… so I'm meeting your dad."

They talk more - about Blaine's tentative enrollment in Kent's music education program (They only take so many applicants with Indentured High School Diploma's) and their future. It's amazing to Kurt how easily they fall into place in this relationship of theirs. There's no need for lengthy discussions or testing the waters - they are exactly what they were meant to be - each other's.

The only thing not spoken about, ever, is Blaine's family. Kurt knows that he's both sad and mad about it all, and no amount of telling Blaine that it'll be okay seems to make up for the fact that his parents have all but disowned him, especially given what he's given up for them.

Santana has, on occasion, suggested that "she knows people" and Kurt can't help but feel like he should take advantage of that information now. He's never wished death on anyone before, but can't help but feel like Blaine would be better off if they didn't exist at all rather than exist and reject him.

He also still doesn't know what to do about the information Blaine's given him on the Smythe home. Research done while Blaine has been napping has shown that they were within their rights as bosses with sex servants, but Kurt still thinks there should be something that makes what they did illegal.

Dents are second class citizens though. Worse actually… they're not citizens at all, much less people, according to the laws. He remembers it, though vaguely at this point. Kurt has a hard time thinking about giving up freedom down. It won't happen. He won't let it. He and Blaine, they'll be free and make sure everyone they love is as well.


	25. Chapter 25

Kurt was sure there was no sweeter sight in life than his dad and his boyfriend sitting in front of the TV, sipping water, and yelling periodically at the screen about some play or call that they didn't agree with. He hadn't known Blaine liked sports, but as soon as Burt asked what teams he followed, Blaine hadn't hesitated to inform Burt that back in his school days he never missed a Buckeyes game with his friends from school.

That was how they ended up postured at the end of their seats on the couch while Kurt worked on making them all lunch, peeking out periodically to save the sight to memory. For all the worries Blaine had about meeting his father, it was clearly forgotten in favour of telling people that couldn't hear them that they were idiots for the way they had moved or hadn't moved.

When he brought out the plate of sandwiches and set them in front of the men in his life, it was a break, or intermission, or… something. Admittedly, despite his dad's interest in the sport, he had never been able to pay more than a minute's attention to it to know what was going on. They were discussing Blaine's admittance into Kent.

"I thought it was hard to get into a college on a Dent diploma?" His dad asked.

Blaine nodded, "Kent has an inclusion policy where up to 5% of their admitted students have Dent diplomas though… and having Kurt's name on my application as a reference I think was the cincher. He's the top one in his program you know."

Burt smiled proudly and nodded, "I do know. Well.. good for you kid. You play any instruments?"

A shrug, "I used to. My parents had me in all kinds of lessons and I was in the band and choir at my school… it's been years though. I just remember how happy and free I always felt playing."

It was news to Kurt, and he felt guilty for not asking more about it, deciding to change that right now. "What did you play?"

"Ah… piano… violin… bit of guitar…" Blaine smiled at Kurt, reaching to take an offered sandwich, Burt following suite.

"We'll have to get you your own instruments." Kurt insisted despite Blaine's quick shaking head.

"Could probably find some used ones for a good price." Burt noted. "Prime garage sale season after all."

"I don't… I don't have any money…" Blaine stammered, looking between them. "Once I get back to Kent I'm going to find a job to help pay my tuition and apply for some scholarships and bursaries…"

"Y'ever play drums?" Burt asked then, seemingly out of the blue.

"Uh… a bit yeah. I liked them but my parents didn't think they were appropriate instruments for the elite…"

Burt nodded and then looked over to Kurt. "Been meaning to tell you. Been seeing a woman. Her name is Carole. Was hoping you'd stick around so you could meet her."

Kurt beamed. He had been encouraging his dad to date now for years. Apparently all it took was him finally leaving the nest. "Of course! I'd love to dad!"

Burt looked back to Blaine then, "She lost her son about a year ago… he played drums. We've been talking about maybe moving in together but we'd need to downsize a bit to fit both of our things together… and she's had a hard time getting rid of the drums. Wants them to stay in the family even though no one else in her family plays. Maybe she'd pass them onto you."

Kurt frowned a little. It was sad to think of a woman losing her son… almost as much as it was to think about a son losing his mother. He still missed his mother…

"I… that would be too kind sir…"

"You'd just need to move into one of those music student dorms. Hear they have soundproofing in the walls."

Kurt chuckled and nodded, pushing the sadness out of his thoughts. "They do. I already put in an application."

"You did?" Blaine snapped his head over in question.

"Yeah. We can't keep sharing my room after all. I barely have enough room for my clothes."

"Oh…." Blaine's face was a mix of glee, worry, and surprise.

"That okay?"

Blaine nodded, "Yeah… just kind of wish I thought of it."

"Guess I should be glad that you can't get him pregnant…" Burt huffed between bites of sandwich. "... seeing as how you're essentially already moving in together."

Blaine choked on the sip of water he was drinking and Kurt flushed up red. "Oh my gosh dad…"

Burt just laughed at their uncomfortableness, sitting back in his seat as the game reappeared on the TV. "Quiet now. Basketball."

Blaine and Kurt shared a moment, speaking through their eyes before Kurt went back to the kitchen to clean up and leave Blaine to watch the game with his dad and resume arguing with referees that couldn't hear them. It was a good way to spend a Saturday.

They spent the next couple days just in leisure. His dad still had to work, but Kurt took Blaine around to all of his and Santana's old haunts and then would spend the evenings just relaxing with his dad, who admitted in private to Kurt that Blaine was okay in his books.

It was as much approval as he needed.

Carole was delightful. She was sweet, thoughtful, was on par with his dad for bad jokes, and motherly. It was only when she spoke to Blaine that the sadness in her heart was revealed.

"Burt tells me you need some instruments. I have a set of drums that are yours if you promise to take good care of them." She said to him after supper had been eaten.

Blaine swallowed and nodded, "I absolutely would… I mean… Burt told us…"

She shushed him. "It's okay. He would have wanted them to be used. They're just gathering dust as it is."

That was all there was to it. Blaine and Burt went to pick up the drum kit later, trying to play real life tetris as they figured out how to pack it away until Burt could get it to the campus on his next trip out.

"You make my dad happy. Thank you." Kurt admitted to Carole when they were left alone to clean up the dishes while Blaine and Burt went to figure out the drums.

"He makes me happy too kid." Carole said quietly and smiled over. "I didn't think I'd be able to be happy again."

He nodded. He didn't want to bring up her lost son and ruin what was otherwise a wonderful evening. "Do you know about dad and I… and Blaine… in…"

"Service? Yeah." Carole nodded. "I was too, years and years ago. When my first husband died he left behind debt I didn't know existed. Drugs problems." She sighed and shook her head. "Was only a few years and my boy was too young for service so he was just taken care of by my mom during that… but.. I get it. The things we do for the people we love…"

"I just wanted to make sure you knew. So many of us… hide."

Again Carole nodded, "But we shouldn't. Especially you kids that get dragged into it. None of it was ever your fault. As for me and your dad… we did it out of love. More him than me I guess, but still… no one should ever fault us for it."

They washed in silence for a minute until Kurt decided that was enough solemnness for the day and promptly noted, "You should let me take you shopping."

Carole laughed loudly at that, a boisterous noise that Kurt could definitely get used to. "Am I that in need of a style makeover?"

He looked her up from toe to head and nodded once, "God yes."

It was decided then, and the next day Kurt and Blaine took Carole out and made her into their doll, creating a whole new look for her complete with a trip to the stylist. When Burt came home that evening to a room of shopping bags and a freshly primped up girlfriend he was at a loss for words for a minute until,

"Kurt got to you."

They all laughed and it was another night of random conversation, giggles, and joy. All the years of being alone and fending for himself was made up for as Kurt lost himself in what he decided was his family.

When Blaine cuddled up to him in his old single bed that night, Kurt was still wide eyed and awake, not tired in the least as thoughts darted through his head.

"You should marry me."

Blaine, who was already halfway to sleep, jumped in place and looked at Kurt, "Wait… what?"

"You should marry me." Kurt reasserted, looking back.

"Well… ah.. that… sort of came out of nowhere."

"We'd be able to get a married couple's dorm room, reduce our tax expenses - especially since we're both students…"

"So… it would be an economical thing?" Blaine asked, the tension in him lessening noticeably.

Kurt smirked, "Plus… that way I would be able to make sure you weren't able to just jump out of my life again."

"Ah…" Blaine came close again, gently stroking his fingers down Kurt's jaw line. "You know that would mean any debt either one of us incurs would make the other just as liable for though right?"

"I don't think either one of us is going to risk that. Not after everything…" Kurt hummed, almost purring at the touch.

"I wouldn't… and I've definitely seen what kind of spendthrift you are."

"Are you calling me a penny pincher?"

"I'm calling you cheap." Blaine chuckled and kissed the tip of Kurt's nose. "But honestly… Kurt… we're so young…"

"We're going to be together anyhow." Kurt asserted, resting his head on the pillow and looking into Blaine's eyes across from his own. "May as well do it and get the breaks that come with it."

"You know you're taking all the romance out of this right? I was going to do a grand proposal and pull out all the bells and whistles when I had the money…"

"You were?"

Blaine smiled, "I was going to take you to that old park we used to play at… have it all decorated with candles and streamers… I had a plan to put about ten percents of my earnings to save up for a ring…"

"I think they bulldozed that park…" Kurt sighed softly, thinking about the potential proposal scene he had missed out on.

"Well… crap… there goes that idea." Blaine chuckled.

"How about we just tell my dad and Carole tomorrow and we buy a set of simple rings. Nothing fancy, just functional."

"Remember how I said you were cheap?" Blaine said, a teasing grin on his face, "Well that doesn't even begin to describe it."

Blaine received a poke to the side and then they laughed and held one another tight until they fell asleep, bound up in one another in dreams as they were in life.


	26. Epilogue

It was two days after they decided to get married that they told Burt, who chastised them both for jumping into marriage in what he considered to be too early, even if he did say they looked good on one another and he understood Kurt's arguments about the economic benefits.

It was two weeks after that when Burt decided to propose to Carole, because, as he noted, "Life's too short to wait for the good things. At least we all can agree on that."

It was two months after that when Burt and Carole got married. Kurt organized the whole wedding and was happy to use his fashion design skills on Carole's wedding dress and all the tuxes and suits worn.

Two weeks later was his own wedding - much smaller and done in front of a judge instead of a priest, but with everyone else of importance to him there. Cooper even showed up after numerous calls made by Kurt to him trying to instill in him how much it would mean to Blaine to have him there.

He had never seen Blaine so happy.

Two years, less two months, Kurt was graduating from his program, trying to sort through various job offers from different design houses and retailers and trying to decide what to do.

"I can transfer to another university or college Kurt…" Blaine assured him, trying to massage the kinks out of his stressed out back. "... I'm happy to follow you."

Kurt sighed and leaned back in his seat and further into Blaine's magical fingers, "I don't want you to have to follow me… and I don't want to be away from my dad anymore than I already seem to be all the time…"

"He's in Congress now fighting for kids like us Kurt… he's busy, and you're busy with school… and you know we'll work to see him as often as you like, but even he's not in Ohio that much since he won the election last year, and when he is he's dealing with political business."

"I know… I just miss him is all… I am proud of him though."

Kurt was gifted with a kiss to the top of his forehead as Blaine leaned over him. "You should be. He's so close to getting congress on his side when it comes to child indenturement. By this time next year it could even be outlawed completely."

Kurt smiled softly, eyes shutting as he let the kiss flow from his skin and sink into his bones. His dad was doing remarkable things. Maybe it was time for him to do the same.

"I have been leaning towards one design house…"

"Oh?" Blaine slipped into the chair aside him at the small table of their small married couple residence dorm.

"San Francisco though."

Blaine let out a low whistle. "That's quite the trek."

Kurt nodded, "But it's new and fresh, and is all about pushing the limits. It's exactly the kind of thing I like… plus the interviewer was the only one that wasn't a couple uppity bitch."

Blaine laughed and nodded, "Fine. I'll look into teacher programs there."

"Really?" Kurt perked up. "You don't mind?"

Blaine shook his head. "Why would I? My home is with you."

Two months later and Kurt was redoing their wardrobe. No longer did they need the long arms and pant legs that came with Ohio weather. Now it was all capri's and short sleeves.

Two years later and Blaine was graduating himself, applying to all the local schools and music programs while Kurt focused on balancing home and work life.

"I got offered a job today…"

Kurt perked up, lifting his head up from where he had been working on a sketch. "Yeah?"

"High school music teacher. Full time…. possibility for tenure after a year. I'll have to take care of some of the extracurricular programs - specifically band and choir, which would take up some nights and weekends… but…"

Kurt could see it in his face. "You want to do it."

"Yeah."

More twos.

Two years later it was buying a home together.

Two months after that, the dog that Blaine had been talking about since they were kids.

Two weeks after that it was celebrating Cooper's TV show that had been picked up.

Two years after that, it was the call from the adoption agency saying they had been selected by a birth mother.

Two months after that, it was taking their twins boys home.

Two, two, two.

"You ever think about your parents?" Kurt asked quietly, one night when their twin two year olds were finally asleep and he and Blaine were laying back on their bed exhausted.

"All the time…"

"Sorry… I didn't mean to bring it up…"

"No…." Blaine turned on his side to look towards Kurt, a move he mirrored so he could look right back at his husband. "... I think about how wrong they were. I can't imagine ever doing to our boys what they did to me… I can't imagine ever cutting them loose. I'd do anything to be a part of their lives… They're the ones missing out. Not me."

Kurt smiled gently, taking Blaine's hand and squeezing it gently. "I'm glad you feel that way."

"Besides… Cooper occasionally will drop some tidbits of information that satiate my curiosity about them."

"Oh?"

Blaine chuckled at Kurt's clear curiosity and arched eyebrows - ever so eager for gossip. "Yeah. They split up… they've both remarried and both divorced again… The Smythe's dropped them from the company as managers not long after I was freed and they're both working crappy dead-end jobs…." He sighed. "... I wish I could say it serves them right… or something equally as spiteful… but I just feel bad for them."

"Like you said… they're the ones who lost out."

Blaine nodded, and curled himself up against Kurt who wrapped his arms around him.

Two more years after that and Burt had finally gotten his way. It didn't happen as soon as everyone had hoped, but it had happened. Kids were no longer to serve under what had been come to be known as "Burt's Bill". The celebrations across the country for people who had served as children were legendary.

Though in the Hummel household, Blaine and Kurt Hummel just enjoyed a quiet night of snuggling and watching the celebrations on the news.

"Think we would have met if you hadn't served?" Blaine asked, already slurring words as the wine he was sipping went straight to his head.

"We seemed to have kept running into one another… I'd like to think so." Kurt murmured back, eyes just as glossy.

"I'd serve a lifetime for a minute with you y'know." Blaine mumbled, a hiccup following.

It made Kurt giggle, thankful the twins were at Uncle Cooper's house for a sleepover - though he knew he'd regret it tomorrow when they returned all sugared up and quoting things their uncle said that were completely inappropriate for four year olds to know.

"Hopefully it takes more than a minute with me."

Blaine's eyebrows waggled. "Oh you know it does."

That was Kurt's life now, and he loved it. Most days he didn't even remember the fact that he had been an indentured servant for eight years. He was too busy, still too in love, and too occupied with his present and future.


End file.
